Ginga Densetsu Weed: Dark Legend
by Dark Scimitar
Summary: After a period of peace under Weed's leadership, a new enemy in the form of a mysterious, sadistic black wolf and his followers threatens not only the paradise of Ohu, but all of Japan.
1. Prologue: The Demon From Russia

**Author's Note:** This is just the set-up. The real story starts on chapter 1. This is important though, so read this too. Thanks! Please review.

**---**

Maxime coughed, feeling nauseous. His one good eye darted left and right in its socket, the other having been taken by a soldier's bullet many years ago. Stumbling forward in the twilight, he looked for anyone that was familiar to him. Every step he took it seemed he was stepping over a body, and the inferno raging around him illuminated a veritable sea of blood and ripped flesh, the fur on his shattered front leg getting soaked through so thoroughly it seemed his fur had always been that shade of red. Maxime panted hard, his ribs feeling as though they were breaking from the effort, and still saw nothing.

"WHERE ARE YOU, YOU MOTHERFUCKER?!" he screamed in a voice so hoarse he could hardly believe it belonged to him.

Somewhere amid the moans and screams of agony that the dying dogs around him were emitting, he could've sworn he heard a low, almost amused laugh, but the next moment it was gone and it was as though he had heard a ghost. Suddenly, something hit him from the side like a train and he was thrown hard to the ground with a grunt, landing on his side painfully. He rolled quickly onto his back and suddenly, there was a dog on top of him as razor sharp teeth tore into his shoulder and went for his neck. Panicking, his military dog training kicked in and he clawed the dog in the balls with his hind leg and when the dog leapt back with a grunt of pain, he grabbed a nearby broken tree branch with his teeth and drove it into the dog's throat as hard as he could. The dog let out a gurgling scream and then fell over dead, the sharp end of the branch jutting sickeningly out the back of his neck. Recovering his footing, Maxime stood unsteadily and licked the blood off his muzzle from where a jet of it had hit him at his attacker's death.

"Maxime!" he heard right in his ear and jumped sideways, nearly falling.

But the dog that now stood before him, missing an ear and half of his face, was a friend, and he realized this seconds later.

"Andre!" he cried, relieved to see a friendly face. "Where's Scimitar?"

"We don't know!" the other German Shepard yelled back. "We can't find him! He may have fled back towards Siberia!"

"What about his followers?" Maxime hissed in frustration, betraying only barely the fear in his voice.

"All but a couple are dead!" Andre answered, "And we're taking care of them right now!"

"Did my father succeed in his attack?" Maxime asked the other.

Andre shook his head, managing to express sadness despite his mangled face.

"Your father's dead." He said, "Scimitar killed him and then his own troops…he killed everyone."

Maxime let out a roar of fury and felt a few tears slide down his bloodied muzzle as he dropped his head to the crimson-tinged earth beneath him. He saw a dog, one of their own, with nothing but a gaping hole where his muzzle and face should've been and he nearly gagged. He hadn't seen death like this since that day in the canyon 3 years ago fighting against his old comrade Victor's pack across the water in…

Suddenly, a horrible thought occurred to him and he looked quickly at the violently churning black waters of the ocean overlooking the battlefield, and the land across them he had once gone to.

"He's gone across the water…" Maxime whispered in horror. "He's headed for Japan."

"What?!" Andre yelled, stepping up next to him as the sounds of the remaining fighting around them lessened steadily. "Nobody could swim across that in this weather!"

"He could." Maxime insisted. "He's powerful enough even in this. Shit, he's headed right at them!"

With that, he limped forward at the water purposefully, the sand and snow of the beach sticking to the blood on his fur uncomfortably. Andre lunged forward and grabbed him with his teeth by the scruff of his neck.

"Are you insane?!" he yelled as Maxime threw him off roughly. "You'd never make the swim and you know it!"

"Watch me!" Maxime snarled at him but the other wouldn't budge.

"Your leg is broken Maxime!" Andre responded with a growl. "And the storm is getting worse! Any dog who tried to swim across now would drown in minutes!"

"MY SISTER'S OVER THERE!" Maxime screamed at him. "MY FRIENDS ARE THERE! THAT MANIAC WILL KILL THEM ALL!"

"I know!" Andre said. "But they were good, remember?! They were better fighters and dogs then any of us! They know how to protect their own!"

"So did we!" Maxime sounded pleading now. "They have to be warned, Andre!"

"Maxime, there's nothing we can do!" the other said sadly, sounding as frustrated as him. "I'm sorry. They're on their own…"

Maxime looked across the ocean water desperately, knowing he was right. His sister probably had a family of her own by now. If Scimitar made it over to their shores though, she might not have one for long, and it was that thought that made another lone tear slide down his furred cheek and shatter in the sand.

"God help them." Maxime of Russia whispered. "God help them…"


	2. The Paradise of Ohu

**Author's Note:** This story is based off of the manga of GDW, not the anime, though I may add a few things from the anime in here at some point. Also, I'm making a few changes to the already existing story, such as having Gajou still exist and *spoiler* GB still be alive. I don't own the Ginga series or its characters, but the original ones in this story are mine. Please review! Thanks!

**---**

**Chapter 1 – The Paradise of Ohu**

There was a storm coming. Weed could see this clearly from his perch on top of Gajou, and the further he looked to the west, the blacker and more foreboding the sky got, and he wondered how long the rain would last this time. Down below, on ground level, he saw some of his pack playing and horsing around, not yet realizing that their idyllic day wouldn't be lasting much longer. But he couldn't blame them. They were just common soldiers after all, and didn't have the stress and responsibility that he and the other high-ranking dogs of Ohu did. Not that they had had much stress to worry about lately.

It had been almost 2 and a half years to the day since their last war, and things had been peaceful since then. Indeed, Ohu was finally becoming the Paradise was famous for, and Weed was hoping it would stay that way. After all, he had just found out that his mate Koyuki was pregnant, and though the birth of pups was a long ways off, he still wanted to give his sons and daughters the paradise that they deserved, free from war. And they weren't the only ones. The rest of his beloved friends and family deserved peace too, especially with big events in their own lives approaching as well.

Jerome, Weed's best friend and co-leader, was also expecting puppies with his mate Lydia, and as elated as he was, Weed silently wondered how he and the Shepard had managed to time their mates' pregnancies so perfectly to each other, especially since they had been hundreds of miles apart at the time. He smiled and shook his head at the thought of it. Tesshin was about to officially become the top Koga Ninja Dog, replacing the old Koga elder Chourou, who had died of sickness and age last month. The ninja dog was taking it all in stride, but Weed got the feeling that he was secretly very proud of the position, despite his sadness at his elder's passing. But that was in keeping with Tesshin's normal behavior, as the Shikoku-ken was notorious for keeping his emotions to himself. Either way, Weed was happy for him.

Not all the events had been happy though. Last year, they had lost Cross, the oldest among them and the mate of the legendary Ohu soldier Ben, to old age, and while they had all seen it coming, it had still stung badly when she had passed away. It especially hurt Ken and George, her two sons, who had lost their father only a year before that and had just gotten over his death. The pack had comforted them both and then given them their space, which Weed suspected they were both grateful for. Cross's death had hurt his own father, Gin, too, and Weed had done his best to be there for him and still remain strong as the leader, as Gin would've done for him. Even though the elder Akita was no longer the leader of Ohu, he still was one of its top generals, a position he accepted both for his son and to continue to help protect the land he loved so much, as well as its pack. The other top members of Weed's pack all had their own things to deal with as well, whether for good or bad, but before Weed could dwell on them, one of them came up behind him.

"Leader." Came a young but strong sounding voice.

Glancing over his shoulder, Weed saw a white Kishu with scars covering his finely tuned form. It was his close friend Kyoushiro.

"Kyoushiro." Weed greeted him. "What is it?"

"Hook reports from the Northern border that all is well." Kyoushiro said. "And we got the same message from the East and West borders of Ohu too. Everything's peaceful."

"And the South?" Weed asked, already knowing the answer.

"Same as before." His friend answered. "A couple incidents but mostly in order. Did you hear about the breakout from the humans' facility for dangerous dogs down there?"

"Yeah, I heard."

"Did you know that Ronin the Butcher got out?"

"Yeah, I heard that too."

"Shouldn't we do something, leader?"

"It's not our place." Weed said in response. "Let the police dogs handle it. We'll come and help if they ask us to."

"With all respect, Weed." Kyoushiro said in a tone of voice that sounded like an argument waiting to happen. "You should've killed the bastard when you had the chance."

Weed frowned and started to walk down the side of Gajou slowly.

"Maybe." He answered. "But it seemed right to spare him at the time. I stand by that."

Kyoushiro snorted.

"As always." He said with only a hint of sarcasm.

Weed smirked at his friend, who was only a month or so older than himself. Kyoushiro was brash by nature, and Weed had long ago learned how to deal with his occasionally violent behavior when it came to things he didn't like. The Kishu and Weed were extremely close friends, so he never would've gotten belligerent with Weed over one of his leadership decisions, but that didn't stop him from hinting his discontent from time to time.

In truth, Weed did regret that he had let Ronin live. But the dog, who had killed over 35 other dogs near Hokkaido had been crying and begging for his life on the ground in front of him, looking like a far cry from the intimidating, tall, brutal malamute he was and more like a pup getting scolded by a parent for the first time. Weed had spared him, and then turned him over to the police dogs, who had thrown him in the humans' holding facility down in Shikoku and let their masters throw away the key, until two days ago, when Ronin and 12 other highly dangerous dogs escaped, and vanished into the woods of Japan. Before that, Ronin had been overheard bragging about how he'd faked his fear to get Weed to spare him, and that he didn't regret one thing he'd ever done. Weed growled softly. Just the thought of it made his insides boil and he swore that when Ronin was caught, he would get everything he deserved and more. See how much he was laughing then. He wasn't the only one to be concerned about though.

Another dog that had escaped had been a violent, bitter former ninja dog named Takeshi, who had once been a student of Chourou's. He had been one of the Koga elder's most talented students, and had been second only to Tesshin, who had been trained by many others including Gin. Takeshi, however, had a dark side to him that Chourou hadn't seen until it was too late, and by the time he and Tesshin had, the Shikoku-ken-Husky mix had already killed 27 innocent dogs in and around Koga. After that, he'd escaped and Weed and the others had joined in hunting him down, but nature itself had beaten them to the punch. Takeshi had been found in the snow unconscious after an avalanche in the Northern Alps, and had also been turned over for the humans to deal with in the facility.

'Oh well.' Weed thought. 'The dogs down there are good males. They can handle it.'

He stretched his hind legs and turned to Kyoushiro.

"Call Rocket and the others in from patrol." He said. "They can report back and relax if our borders are fine. But send a dog down South to tell them if they need Ohu's help, they'll get it."

"Yes, Soudaishou." Kyoushiro said, then cocked his head curiously. "Where are you going?"

"To check on Koyuki." Weed responded with a smile. "Who knows what she wants me to get her to eat this time."

Kyoushiro grinned and nodded at him, and then turned and howled the calling signal for the scouts as Weed walked towards the entrance to the cave in the side of Gajou where his mate and others were resting. Over in the west, the sky looked as bleak and foreboding as ever, and Weed silently hoped it wouldn't rain. The paradise of Ohu was too beautiful today to let the rain wash away their high spirits. Whatever happened though, Weed knew that he was happy and ready for anything.

**---**


	3. Trouble In The South

**Author's Note: **This is where the real action of the story begins. Please review, I'd like to know what people think so far.

**---**

Musashi scanned the landscape, looking carefully for any signs of their targets amongst the trees. Nothing. The tosa snorted derisively and looked over at the group of dogs who were gathering behind him. Jaguar, the son of his friend Moss, who had been dead for a few years now, was at the center of them and helping the leader of the police dogs in the area tell the others who they were looking for. Most of the dogs there were local pet dogs who had come to help make their families safe, but a few were there for the simple sake of justice, and Musashi felt a greater respect for them than any of the others.

It had been two weeks since they had started the search for the escaped dogs from Musashi's own island of Shikoku, and thus far they had killed or captured 8 of the 12 that had escaped. Jaguar had come down with Musashi from Ohu around a month ago just to revisit the former fight dog's home and had almost been ready to return when the escape had happened. They had immediately offered to help, as Musashi had once been something like the boss dog of the large island and still thought of it as his territory somewhere deep inside him. He turned and walked back to the group, standing next to Hoshi, the female leader of the police dogs.

"…but Takeshi is smart." She was saying. "He has ninja dog training and will try and evade us. That's not to say that he's a coward, though, he's very adept at ambushes, so watch your backs."

"And we also should be careful just in case he, Ronin and the other 2 dogs have teamed up and plan to attack us." Musashi added and the dogs around him nodded.

"These are very dangerous dogs." Hoshi said gravely. "And they need to be put back in their cages. Failure is not an option."

"You heard her!" Jaguar growled. "Let's go!"

At that, the dogs formed into groups and spread out in random directions, each determined to find the escapees before the other groups. Only Musashi, Jaguar, and Hoshi grasped the true gravity of the situation, and they turned back to each other.

"Hoshi," Musashi said. "We should send for Ohu's help."

"No." she said firmly. "We can handle these bastards ourselves."

"But their not behaving as they should be." Jaguar said, taking Musashi's side. "They have no reason to stay in Shikoku, they have a much better chance of escaping if they make it to the mainland."

"You're assuming they are intelligent enough to know that." Hoshi said in return. "If they were blessed with that kind of intelligence then they wouldn't have been caught to begin with."

"Takeshi at least knows better and you know I'm right about that." Musashi growled. "Something feels wrong about this. We should call for help to be safe."

"No!" the police dog barked. "Those sons-of-bitches escaped on my watch, and I'm going to **prove** that we don't need help from your blessed Ohu army to get them back!"

Musashi was annoyed at the sarcastic tone in her voice when she said these last words, but he bit his tongue. He didn't want to get into an argument right now. Suddenly, a dog burst through the trees. It was another police dog.

"Leader!" he shouted urgently to Hoshi. "We've got one of them! He's on the run!"

"Where?!" she immediately leapt to his side. "Which one?!"

"It's Riku, boss. We found him hiding in the river."

"Lead the way!" Musashi interrupted and the dog nodded and darted away through the trees, the three of them following.

Riku was one of the more unusual of the dogs they sought, having not been quite as brutal or violent as the others, but that didn't make him any less dangerous. He had killed 10 dogs, all of them sons of high-ranking dogs in random packs, and had avoided detection by somehow masquerading as his own victims until someone got suspicious. Then he would move onto another. They had never quite figured out how he had fooled the families into thinking he was their own flesh and blood, but he had pulled it off somehow, and once he had escaped he had immediately tried to make a break for the coastline of Shikoku, and had thus far evaded capture. That is, until now. Musashi suspected that he simply had run out of places to run.

They kept following the police dog for nearly 6 miles, weaving through the trees and exiting onto the grasslands that surrounded the banks of the river. Once they reached its banks, they turned and began to follow it North, occasionally having to leap over small offshoots of it. Then, suddenly, as they were going over a high rise, they nearly ran right into a dog coming the other way. Musashi leapt aside at the last second, narrowly missing a rock in the process, and skidded to a halt. The police dog in front wasn't so lucky. He had run right into the dog and fallen back stunned, shaking his head to clear it. Looking up, they all quickly saw that it was a Labrador mix and that it was glaring back in defiant fear. Riku had arrived.

"SHIT!" Riku swore and tried to leap into the river to escape.

The police dog on the ground grabbed him by the hind leg before he could, though, and he fell to the ground. Growling, he turned and grabbed him by the neck with his teeth. Then he jerked his head to the side hard. A jet of blood shot into the air and the police dog let out a whine of pain and then lay still. Musashi snapped out of his reverie and used a distraction from Jaguar to charge Riku. The dog slashed at him with his claws, but Musashi dodged and then kicked him to the ground. Once he was down, the former fight dog stomped on his front leg and broke it with a sickening snap, incapacitating him. Riku howled in pain and then Hoshi grabbed him by the neck.

"You just murdered one of my comrades!" she snarled angrily. "Give me one good reason not to kill you now!"

"Y-You don't understand!" Riku choked, looking simultaneously angry and terrified. "We have to get out of here now!"

"Don't try and fool us!" Hoshi hissed. "You'll get everything you deserve!"

"I'm telling you, he's here! He's gonna kill us all if we don't run now!"

Musashi looked down at him unimpressed. He couldn't care less what happened to the dog now, but the insistence in Riku's eyes suggested that he wasn't lying, and that made him wary. Stalking up to him, Musashi glared down angrily.

"I was one of the dogs who fought the demon bear Akakabuto more than 12 years ago in Ohu!" he growled. "I was Shikoku's fight dog champion for three years running, you and your pathetic comrades don't scare me! Now your only chance to keep your life is to tell us where Ronin and Takeshi are."

Riku choked under Hoshi's grip.

"He's…here!"

"What does that mean?!" Jaguar pressed, standing at Musashi's right.

"He means me." said a soft, cold voice from right behind them.

Musashi whirled in surprise and immediately was hit across the face with such force that he went flying backwards and hit a rock on the banks of the river. Head spinning, he forced himself to his feet and lunged at the figure that had spoken, but the dog, who he couldn't see well through his blurry vision, moved like lightning and he felt immense pain in his ribs from below. Then teeth were around his front leg and he was slammed into the ground hard, knocking the wind out of him.

'Christ.' The tosa thought, 'This guy's as good as Gin back in the day! I thought he was just a hooligan!'

But then he heard a horrible shriek and looking over, saw Ronin on top of Hoshi, the malamute's paw on her chest, and a foot long tree spike driven through her eye socket, blood spurting out from the wound. Musashi was horrified but confused. If Ronin wasn't the one who had attacked him, then who had…? Takeshi? No, he was standing over the motionless Jaguar, who had fallen where he'd been standing. Musashi looked up, his vision still not quite 100% in his one good eye. He saw a figure standing over him, his features obscured by the glare from the sun behind him.

"Who the hell are you?!" Musashi growled, trying to force his tired old body to move and failing.

The figure just stared down at him for a minute, not making a move. Then he leaned in just enough for Musashi to see his eyes. They were an eerie shade of ice blue and seemed piercing enough to cut into him by themselves. For the first time in years, Musashi of Shikoku found himself nervous, but defiantly refused to let it show on his face. He met the gaze of his attacker.

"Who are you?!" he repeated fiercely.

The figure seemed to smile.

"I'm the devil." it said, and the last thing that crossed Musashi's mind as the figure raised its front leg and stomped down on his neck was a bet he had made with Moss and Kurotura years before as a joke at the end of the battle against Akakabuto, a bet on which of them would live the longest.

'What do you know?' he thought. 'I lost…'

Then Musashi the fight dog knew no more.

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Jaguar let out a groan and a growl as his eyes opened. The world was out of focus and his head was throbbing from where something had hit him as he had turned to see who the voice had been behind them as they stood over Riku. If that bastard had gotten away, Jaguar thought angrily, then I'll never be able to face my father in the other world. Raising his head, he tried to stand, and found to his surprise that he could not move his legs. As his eyes focused, he looked down and saw that he had chains wrapped around them, one for his front legs and one for his hind.

"What the…?" he growled in confusion.

"You'll have to forgive the restraints." came a voice, and Jaguar recognized it as the same one as before. "I have certain trust issues that I never quite learned to work out."

Jaguar looked up and saw a wolf sitting in front of him. He had black fur, but his mane was a slightly lighter grey, almost like the color of ash with a hint of blue in it. His eyes were a piercing icy blue and his left one had two scars through it, one straight up and one straight across it length-wise, and they intersected right below it to form a sort of upside-down cross. He seemed to resonate power, but also a distinct malevolence, and Jaguar felt very uneasy as the wolf smiled at him calmly. Then another dog walked into the small cave where they were and this one Jaguar recognized instantly.

"Ronin!" he snarled. "Release me and fight like a real male!"

Ronin smirked and nodded at the chains.

"Got those from the facility where we escaped from." he said. "They got caught on Riku's collar when we broke out. Not very fun are they?"

Jaguar growled and glared at him angrily.

"I suppose you let that bastard go." he said.

"Sorry, but Riku won't be joining us tonight." the wolf responded.

"Or anyone else for that matter." Ronin added with a grin, leaning his side against the cave wall.

Jaguar silently wondered what the Labrador mix had been subjected to, but didn't focus on it for long as Takeshi entered from the same entrance as Ronin had. He stalked up to the wolf.

"Sir, the remaining police dogs are dead and the rest of the pet dogs have run off." he said in an almost uninterested voice. "What should we do with the prisoners?"

"What prisoners?" the wolf said without taking his eyes off Jaguar, and it took the mastiff a minute to realize that he hadn't meant it as a real question.

Takeshi nodded and turned, walking back outside calmly. Then the wolf looked at Ronin and nodded in the direction that the ninja dog had gone. Ronin turned and left as well, and almost the second he had vanished from view, Jaguar began to hear screams from outside the cave entrance. Then the sound died away as a large rock was pushed in front of it, blocking them off and killing most of the light that they had. Jaguar could still see clearly though, and the wolf's eyes almost seemed to glow as he stood and walked around the mastiff in a circle, testing the chains with his paw occasionally.

"You're probably confused right now as to what exactly is going on." he said in the same calm voice, his tone not giving away his mood or intentions. "But I'm afraid that you won't be getting many answers to your questions."

Jaguar looked at him defiantly and the wolf faced him once again.

"But it's not your questions that we're here to answer." he said. "It's mine. And one way or another you **will** tell me what I want to know. The only question is how much pain do you want to experience before that happens."

Jaguar felt a lump rise in his throat at those words and tried to move his legs again, finding to his dismay that the chains were wrapped too tightly. He glared at the wolf.

"You'll get nothing out of me."

"We'll see. Let's start with something simple. What's your name?"

Jaguar didn't respond.

"Please tell me your name."

Still no answer and the wolf nodded.

"Okay, it doesn't matter." he smiled. "You'll tell me eventually. There are other things I want to know about more anyway."

Jaguar looked hard at the cave floor, ready for a blow to hit him at any moment and getting more and more surprised when none did.

"Aren't you curious as to what those things are?" the wolf said, leaning down so that the mastiff was forced to look at him again.

When his prisoner still refused answer him, he stood and began circling again.

"Well, I'll tell you anyway." he said. "I just spent the last few weeks traveling down here all the way from Hokkaido and I heard some things that fascinated me from the dogs along the way. So to be frank my doomed friend, I want to know about the layout of this country of yours, I want to know who the most powerful dogs in this area are, and I want to know the name of your friend I killed earlier, but first…"

He turned and picked something up from the stone floor behind him, and when he looked back at Jaguar, he was holding a scythe in his mouth, much like the one a dog named Kurojaki had used long ago in a different conflict.

"…let's talk about a place called Ohu." he finished, a smile creeping over his muzzle as Jaguar paled beneath his fur. "And what you might know about a dog named…Weed."

**---**


	4. Unity

**Author's Note:** This is sort of a 'linking' chapter between two more action packed ones, but it is an important one. Also, I changed my mind about having GB still be alive so…yeah. Thank you to "SakuraAyanami" for reviewing!

**---**

"Remember," Weed said loudly to the dogs. "Elders get fish! Females get meat!"

"Oh yeah?" came a voice to his left. "And what do the rest of us get to eat?"

"Pipe down, Kage." another voice answered, "The last thing you need is more food in you."

"Screw you, Ken." came the response as laughter sounded from around the cave.

Weed chuckled and nodded at the dogs who had been out hunting. They picked up the meat, small squirrels and rabbits that had been caught, and began passing them out amongst the dogs, giving the best pieces to the females, specifically Koyuki and Lydia. As Lydia got her piece, she thanked the dog who had caught it and took a bite out of it, laying her meal on the ground in front of her. Next to her lay Jerome, who seemed to be resting, but who Weed suspected was actually wide awake, ready to get his mate anything she needed at a moment's notice.

They were all inside Gajou, and were resting until they needed to head to where each one of them was going. Gin and Akame were heading north to Hokkaido to check on Suzaku, the son of their deceased friend Hakuro, who had died during their war in Hokkaido against Victor and his invading Russian Army dogs. Suzaku had taken over his father's role as boss dog of the island after it was all over, and Gin wanted to make sure he didn't need any help, as most of his pack had been killed during the war. Tesshin was about to depart for Koga, to give orders to his dogs there before heading back to Ohu. Weed, meanwhile, wanted to head South to visit his brother Joe, who had returned to his job as a bear hunting dog with his human owner and also to raising his young son, Koshiro, who had missed his father greatly Weed had been told, when the other had traveled to Ohu to meet his own father, Gin, for the first time. Kyoushiro and Jerome were going with him, as were Ken and George, and the rest of them were staying to guard Paradise from any intruders that might show up in their absences.

At the moment, he was just waiting for Hook to return from Shikoku to give his report on the situation with the escaped dogs down there. He wasn't worried though, because half the police dogs in the country were down there looking for the escapees, as were Musashi and Jaguar, two of their own who had gone to visit Musashi's old home in Shikoku, where he had been a fighting dog many years ago until Gin had met him and convinced him to join their fight against the bear Akakabuto. Then he heard Koyuki make a noise next to him and he turned in concern.

"Are you all right?" he asked and she smiled at him.

"I'm fine." she answered, nuzzling his cheek, "It's just my appetite has been being strange lately. I'm not really hungry anymore."

"I noticed." he teased. "Here I get all this great food for you and now you don't want it anymore."

"Hey, it's not **my** fault. It comes with being pregnant." she said half indignantly.

"And whose fault is that?" Weed smiled.

"Hey, you're the one who wanted pups this fast." she said, licking him.

"Oho!" he laughed, returning the lick. "Not as I recall, princess. You were- "

"Hey! Hey! I'm eating here!" George said with a disgusted look from across the cave, "Can't you see I'm eating?"

"You know, I think George is feeling left out." Kage, whose real name was Kagetora, grinned at him.

"Yeah," Kyoushiro agreed, scooting closer to George. "C'mon, George, we can join in! Give us a kiss!"

George held up his paw threateningly.

"Touch me and die," he said in response and they all laughed again. "Go ahead if you want, but you **will** die."

Weed saw Jerome lick Lydia's muzzle and he smiled, feeling happy as he noticed his father smiling too on his other side.

"Leader," came Ken's voice and Weed turned. "Hook is back."

Weed looked over at the entrance and saw the guards outside going to meet a dog who was just running out of the tree line towards Gajou. Weed stood and Gin, Akame, and Jerome did as well. He saw Hook talking to one of the Koga guards, looking very agitated and he sensed that something was wrong. He started walking out to greet him, but Hook suddenly came towards him fast and stopped in front of the group of them, panting.

"Hook," Weed said, "What's wrong? What's the news from the South?"

Hook looked at him and hesitated.

"Leader, I…" he started, but then paused, looking unsure. "I…have some bad news."

"Did Ronin and Takeshi escape?" Akame asked.

"Yes, Akame-san." Hook said, "But that's not- "

"Where are Musashi and Jaguar in finding them?" Gin said urgently before he could finish.

"…That's just it sir." Hook said shakily, with an air that said he was getting to the point. "They're not looking for them anymore."

"Why not?" Weed demanded.

"Because they're…they're dead, leader."

Weed felt his whole body suddenly get cold and he heard grunts of shock from both his father and Akame. He looked hard at Hook.

"Dead?" Weed said softly, still trying to process it. "What do you mean, dead?!"

"A small army of pet dogs and fight dogs down there were helping to look with them." Hook explained with tears in his eyes. "When the group that Musashi and Jaguar were in didn't come back, the others went looking for them and when they found them…they were all dead, including Musashi-san and Jaguar."

Weed clenched his eyes shut as he heard a howl of rage behind him in the form of Kurotura's voice. He realized too late that the rest of the pack had followed them and were listening closely to what was happening, but at the moment, he was too shocked to care. He growled and asked in a shaky but deadly voice:

"Who did it?"

"The evidence…" Hook looked like he was choosing his words carefully. "The evidence seems to point to Ronin and Takeshi…sir."

Weed felt a draining effect take hold of him at those words, and he felt like he was falling inside as he turned and took a few steps away from them, trying to control his feelings of overwhelming guilt and sadness.

"God damn it!" Kurotura snarled loudly and Weed could hear very clearly that the Kai-ken dog was speaking directly to him. "**That's** why you don't let your enemies live! **That** is fucking why!"

"Kurotura!" Akame growled, sounding like he too was on the verge of tears. "Be quiet! It was Weed's decision! Not ours! Don't say something you'll regret later!"

Kurotura, who was Kagetora's father, was good friends with Musashi, and Weed could hear him quietly crying behind him as he felt tears forming in his own eyes.

"Weed," Gin said, "What should we do?"

His father's shaky voice told Weed that he too was devastated by what had happened and that made him feel if possible even more horrible. He composed himself a little and turned back to Hook.

"Hook," he said. "Go back down to where you were and gather all the pet dogs you can together. Then head to the Kyoto area and gather anyone you can from around there."

Then he turned to the group behind them.

"Ken, Kyoushiro, Rocket, go and get all our dogs and bring them back here. Tell them to get ready to head South. I'm…I'm issuing a standing 'Kill-on-sight' order for both Ronin and Takeshi."

Then he added almost as an afterthought.

"Let's move."

The dogs all jumped to action and the ones who had been named all ran off to where they had been told to go. Akame looked at Gin.

"Ronin and Takeshi must have gotten help from somewhere." he said reasonably, trying audibly to control his emotions. "Musashi and Jaguar were good enough to take care of themselves and anyone with them."

"I agree." Tesshin said from the group behind them. "They had to have outnumbered them somehow."

"All right." Gin said. "Let's all get ready to move out, and then rest up until everyone is gathered together and we can go."

Everyone nodded in agreement and then most of them turned and went back into the cave. Gin, Akame, and Kurotura went off by themselves to mourn their friends, and Weed looked after them, knowing that they would take it the hardest, which made his guilt boil up again. Except for the three of them and Kisaragi, who lived in Mutsu but was too old to fight with the Ohu army, no one else was left from their group that had fought against Akakabuto all those years ago. Weed couldn't imagine how hard it must have been for them to watch their beloved friends die one by one until only they were left, and he felt a pang of sympathy for them. He heard someone come up beside him and saw Mel, his golden retriever friend, standing there, looking concerned on top of his sadness.

"Leader, are you okay?" he asked and Weed nodded without looking at him.

"You should go rest, Mel." he said. "We have a long journey ahead of us starting tomorrow."

"I know." Mel said, looking at the ground. "But Weed, you shouldn't– "

"Tell Koyuki when you go in that I'll be there in a minute." Weed cut him off and then walked off towards the canyon behind Gajou, head drooping sadly.

Mel sighed and turned, then walked back into the cave without another word.

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Weed opened his eyes again in the dark, looking around the cave. Night had come faster than he'd expected and now the group of them was sleeping together side by side, ready for the journey ahead of them tomorrow. Weed, however, couldn't sleep and so he lay there with his eyes open, feeling Koyuki's back rising and falling underneath him as she breathed. He still felt extremely guilty over what had happened and eventually gave up on getting rest. Standing up, he walked carefully around his friends until he was outside the cave entrance. Then he took a deep, shuddering breath as he stopped. The cool night air felt good against his face and he looked up at the stars sparkling in the black sky. They were beautiful to him.

"Are you all right, Weed?" he heard suddenly and glancing to his left, he saw his father sitting on a rock only a few feet away.

The elder akita was also looking up at the stars, but averted his gaze long enough to check if his son had heard him and was really okay. Weed walked up and sat down next to him.

"I'm fine dad." he said. "How are you holding up?"

"I'll be all right." Gin answered. "I'll just need a day or so."

"Musashi was a great dog." Weed said. "We should bring part of him back up to bury here in paradise. Jaguar as well."

"They would appreciate that." Gin said without looking at him and Weed's ears reversed as he looked at the ground.

"Dad," Weed said slowly, closing his eyes in shame. "I'm…sorry."

"For what, Weed?" Gin asked, still looking at the stars.

"For letting Ronin live." The younger akita answered. "If I had killed him the first time then this wouldn't have happened."

Gin turned and looked at him.

"You don't know that." he said. "You spared Ronin because you thought it was the right thing to do at the time. All leaders have to make hard choices, and I probably would've made the same one you did."

"That doesn't stop me feeling guilty." Weed said.

"And it never will." Gin said, placing his paw comfortingly on Weed's side. "Son, there will always be things that we'll regret we did. What makes a difference is if we do something to correct them if we can. But even then, what happened doesn't make your first decision wrong."

He stood and nudged Weed with his head comfortingly.

"I don't blame you Weed." Gin smiled. "Try not to blame yourself in my stead."

Weed nodded and bowed his head further, finally feeling the fatigue that had eluded him all night right then. As his father turned and walked back into Gajou's inner sanctum, Weed suddenly got a momentary, horrible feeling that there was something else going on with the whole situation, something that no one had seen yet. Shaking his head, he glanced back up at the stars, twinkling high above him in the sky. It had been 2 and a half years since their last war, during which he had lost his beloved godfather and best friend, GB. The last thing he wanted for his pack was this. Weed then sighed and followed his father back inside, finally intending to sleep.

'Here we go again.' he thought bitterly. 'Here we go again…'

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Ronin walked carefully between the trees, making sure not to do anything to give away his position to anyone that might have been watching. The fur on the back of his neck was standing straight up, something that had always happened when he was angry, and he was trying to keep his temper in check, which he was failing at. As he approached the tree line, he felt the presence of another dog, and the scent that he caught moments later told him that it was Takeshi, his former prison comrade. He found the Shikoku-ken-Husky mix sitting on the top of the hill that led down into the valley, looking out at the landscape. Ronin sat down next to him, just far enough away to avoid the other dog's teeth if he needed to. His anger flared again suddenly as thoughts of their commander entered his head.

"Who does that son-of-a-bitch think he's dealing with?" he fumed, teeth bared. "Ignoring me like a common subordinate!"

"It **is** his prerogative." Takeshi said without looking at him, sounding distinctly annoyed at being bothered at all. "He is the boss."

"A position he doesn't deserve or seem to care about." Ronin shot back. "We haven't even come up with a plan to attack Ohu yet!"

"If he has one he'll tell us." Takeshi said. "That wolf doesn't seem like the type to just sit around on his haunches."

"And you know him so well, do you?" Ronin responded with a sneer. "What has that bastard even told us? I don't know about you, but before I follow someone like a pathetic lapdog, I want to know more than just his name. 'Scimitar' means as little to me now as it did then. At least **my** name is known! I should be leading this pack!"

"Lest you forget, **he's** the one who broke us out to begin with!" Takeshi said with a growl, finally turning to look at him. "And without him, these dogs that follow us wouldn't be following us at all! He's the one who convinced them somehow, not you or I. Whatever his intentions are, he's proved at least that he means business by killing the Ohu mutts."

"Musashi and Jaguar?" Ronin said. "Big fucking deal. If he really wanted to impress me than he would kill Gin, or better yet Weed!"

"I'm sure his only thought was to impress you, Ronin." Takeshi said cruelly. "And don't underestimate the significance of Musashi and Jaguar's deaths. Their demise will lead the Ohu army down here in force. Even Weed won't forgive the murder of two of his personal friends. And when they do come, we'll get them then…once and for all."

Ronin studied him for a minute, then smirked.

"Thinking of Tesshin are you?" he asked. "And here I thought you were beyond grudges. Some professional you are."

Takeshi glared at him hatefully, growling low in his throat.

"Don't provoke me Ronin." he threatened. "I've waited for a long time to kill that bastard and you know that. If anyone has earned holding a grudge it's me."

Ronin's smile widened. Takeshi acted like he was emotionless, but the malamute knew exactly how to push his buttons when needed.

"I'm not blaming you." he said, turning away. "After all, I have grudges of my own. But the point is, Scimitar better do something to give us the chance to make good on them soon or so help me god I'll kill him and do it myself."

"I'd love to see you try." Takeshi snorted.

"So would I."

They both whirled around and saw Scimitar sitting no more than 10 feet away, lurking in the shadows next to a tree and wearing a smile on his muzzle that suggested he was thoroughly enjoying the whole conversation. Takeshi and Ronin shot to their feet.

"Boss!" they said in surprise, turning to face him.

Scimitar stood slowly and walked up to them at a casual pace, giving off no clues as to what he was thinking. He looked at Ronin pointedly.

"So how about it Ronin?" he asked malevolently. "You want to try your luck?"

Ronin glared back.

"No." he answered bitterly.

"I thought not. How about you Takeshi? Despite your loyal words, I sense you doubt me as well."

Takeshi just looked at him silently, not saying a word.

"No?" Scimitar's cruel smile widened. "Too bad. I really **would've** loved to see you try."

He turned and walked a few steps away from them. Ronin took a step after him.

"You may be the boss," he said bitterly. "But don't think for one second that I fear you. And **do not** underestimate me."

"Oh?" Scimitar asked calmly. "Well then, I'll make a note to myself to change that. But first, we have a message to send to the dogs of Japan."

"It won't work." Takeshi said stepping forward. "Weed and his pack know that we've attacked innocents before. They're probably expecting it. They'll see it coming."

"Oh no." Scimitar said, turning to him as a horrible grin spread over his muzzle. "They won't see **this** coming."

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Weed looked at the pack gathering in front of Gajou. Most of them he didn't know well, but he was happy to see that so many had been loyal enough come when they were called, and he mentally reminded himself to thank them when he could.

"Get ready to move out!" he called loudly. "We're heading south!"

He turned as he heard supportive cries from the dogs, indicating they were ready, and looked at Koyuki, who stood looking at him with a mixture of sadness and pride. He nuzzled her and she licked his cheek.

"Be careful." she said, sounding worried. "Deal with this and then come home."

"I plan to." Weed answered. "Try not to worry while I'm gone."

"I'll try." she said.

"-And fail." Sasuke, who was one of Weed's friends, said walking by, earning him a dirty look from the female as Weed smiled.

A few feet away, Jerome saw this and smirked. Then he turned and walked up to Lydia, who looked longingly back at him.

"I won't worry about you." she said, also nuzzling his furred cheek. "I trust you."

But then her look turned hard.

"But please Jerome." she said. "You be careful too. I don't want our pups growing up without a father."

"I will." he responded gently. "Weed and I have had each other's backs for years now. He's there for me as much as I'm there for him. They all are. We'll be safe."

Then he leaned in and they licked each other's muzzles as Hiro walked by, having just finished saying goodbye to Reika, his mate, who stood back behind Lydia with 2 of her 4 pups, who were now over 2 years old. Hiro, who was a Great Pyrenees, had been called out of a self-imposed semi-retirement from the Ohu army yesterday by Ken to help with the situation, and two of his male pups, Kin and Kanto, were accompanying the group on their mission. It had helped that Hiro and his family had still lived in Ohu after he had stopped actively fighting with them for a while, so it had only taken a few hours for him to arrive. Jerome nodded at Lydia and then turned and followed Hiro, walking past him until he was up next to Akame and Tesshin, who stood next to Weed. Glancing over, he saw Kagetora and Rocket falling in next to Gin on Weed's other side, and soon all the dogs were ready and waiting.

Weed looked around for a moment, as if making sure that everything was the way he wanted it, then met Jerome's gaze. The German Shepard nodded at him and Weed, seeing that the others were just as ready, lifted his head high.

"Dogs of Ohu!" he shouted. "Let's go!"

"Yeah!" they responded and soon the group of them was running, away from the safety of their paradise home and down south towards conflict, towards war.

**---**


	5. The Siege Of Oroshi

**Author's Note:** This is one of the more violent early chapters and was one of the hardest to write convincingly. Please review! Thanks!

**---**

Hook stumbled to a halt, tongue lolling out of his mouth, showing his intense fatigue. It had taken him the better part of a week to get back down to the Shikoku area, and even more time to gather dogs to fight with Ohu once he had gotten there. None of them wanted to confront Ronin, Takeshi and their group after what had happened last time they'd tried to help recapture them. Apparently, over 15 local dogs had been killed at the same time as Musashi and Jaguar, and the ones who had escaped had been too terrified to go back. Hook had gotten less than half of what he'd hoped for, and he silently wondered if there was something more going on. Some of the dogs he had talked to had said that Ronin didn't seem to be in charge of his group, and that confused Hook greatly. If not Ronin, then who? He shook the thought from his head. The dogs' accounts could have been wrong, and he had other thoughts to dwell on at the moment, specifically what he was going to say to get this new group to join Ohu's fight.

He was on the outskirts of the small village of Oroshi, which was about 15 miles or so from the city of Kyoto, where Weed had instructed him to recruit around. Oroshi was somewhat isolated, despite being relatively close to the larger city, and was situated at the bottom of a valley, with natural hilltop walls surrounding it and the buildings below. Hook was standing on top of one of those hilltops now and was looking down at the village below, looking for any dogs. It was later in the day, and the light was just starting to dim, so Hook had a little trouble seeing movement among the human structures. Catching his breath, he started forward at a quick pace down the grassy hillside, slowing when he approached the border of the town. Suddenly, three dogs jumped out at him and blocked his path, and by the time he had stopped, two more were behind him. The one directly in front of him, a medium sized mix breed of some kind wearing a red hunting dog's collar, took a step forward.

"Who are you, stranger?" he asked. "And what do you want here?"

"Forgive my intrusion," Hook said, bowing his head respectfully. "I'm Hook of Ohu. I need to speak to your boss if that's all right."

The dog cocked his head interestedly.

"I'm the boss here." he said, "I'm Ichiro. What does Ohu want with us?"

"Is there someplace we could talk?" Hook asked, glancing around and noticing a few other dogs milling around.

Ichiro took note of them too and nodded back over his shoulder, turning as he did so.

"Follow me." he said.

Hook did what he said, sensing Ichiro's subordinates following him closely, on their guard just in case. Ichiro led him into a good-sized building that resembled a vacant barn inside, hay on the ground and human equipment in the corner. Hook felt uneasy about entering a human structure if he didn't know what kind of humans it belonged to, but Ichiro seemed relatively at ease so he decided to trust him.

As he reached the far side, he turned and looked at Ichiro as the dog turned to face him again.

"Now," the mix breed said. "What is it that you want?"

"Did you hear about the situation over in Shikoku?" Hook asked.

"Of course." Ichiro answered. "Word on the street is that those dogs brought Weed's wrath down on them, and that Ohu's going to war. Is that true?"

"Unfortunately." Hook answered. "Which is why I'm here now."

"To recruit us to fight with you." Ichiro said, looking at Hook knowingly.

"Yes." Hook said. "We could really use your help."

Ichiro took a few steps to the left, looking at the wall.

"Gin and Weed have been good to us." he said, "So of course they have our loyalty, but right now, we have some problems of our own we need to attend to."

"Such as?" Hook inquired.

"There's a group of wild dogs in the area that want the territory around our town for their own." Ichiro answered. "We've managed to drive them off thus far, but…their leader, Damien, has threatened to attack our families if we don't let them have it. If we leave, they may take it by force and our families would be in danger."

Hook let out a mild growl.

"It takes a real coward to threaten an opponent's family instead of facing them." he said.

"Indeed." Ichiro agreed, nodding his head.

"What if I make you a deal?" Hook asked slyly.

Ichiro glanced at his subordinates in surprise, then looked back at Hook.

"What kind of deal?" he asked, sounding slightly suspicious.

"If you and your pack help us deal with the situation in Shikoku," Hook said. "Then the Ohu army will come and drive off these hooligans that are giving you and your pack trouble. Do we have a deal?"

Ichiro looked at him hard for a moment, as if trying to gauge if he was really trustworthy, then looked at his subordinates.

"It's a good deal, boss." one of them to Hook's right said. "We could use Ohu's help."

Ichiro nodded at him in agreement, then looked at Hook again.

"Very well." he said. "You have a deal. I'll gather all the good males that I can from around here and tomorrow morning, we'll follow you back up to Ohu."

"Actually," Hook said. "I should leave now. Weed will be wanting my report as soon as possible."

"You can't." Ichiro countered, and Hook looked at him in surprise.

"Why?"

"Damien and his pack are most active during the night." he explained. "If you leave now, they'll attack you and most likely kill you."

Hook grimaced in disappointment.

"Then I guess I have no choice but to stay the night." he said. "Thank you for all you're doing."

Ichiro nodded.

"You can sleep in here." he said, walking to the door. "My hunting team and I will probably be in later to join you."

Hook nodded at him and the mix breed acknowledged it with another nod of his own before disappearing out the door with his subordinates. Hook went to a pile of hay by the far wall and lay down, resting his head on his paws. It was frustrating that he was stuck here, but at least he had gained them some allies. Besides, he knew that Weed would absolutely help Ichiro and his pack when Hook explained the deal he had made to him. He closed his eyes slowly, suddenly feeling tired. He'd rejoin his comrades tomorrow, he told himself, but for now he wanted to sleep.

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Hook woke with a start. He had been dreaming about his time with his older brother, who had been killed by an enemy of theirs when they were just pups, when he had heard what had definitely been a scream of pain. Raising his head, he looked over at the door he'd come in through…and saw a dog lunging at him, looking nothing short of bloodthirsty and flanked by two other dogs. Reacting almost instinctively, he pushed up with his legs and jumped aside, making his attacker's jaws snap shut on empty air.

"What the hell are-?!" he started, but then one of the other dogs bit him on the muzzle hard and threw him to the ground.

Grunting at the impact, Hook immediately tried to jump aside again, but was grabbed by the hind leg and pulled down. Growling, he kicked the dog in the eye, which caused him to howl in pain and release his grip. Darting to his feet, Hook dodged another attack and ripped the dog's throat out as fast as he could. He silently thanked Tesshin and Weed for helping to teach him to fight better and was about to attack the other two dogs when they were both tackled from behind and killed with swift bites to the throat. Hook looked at the dogs who had helped him and saw Ichiro standing before him, panting with fatigue.

"Ichiro!" he gasped. "What's happening?!"

"We're under attack!" the other said intensely. "It's Damien and his goons, but this time they have help!"

Hook immediately followed him outside, recognizing the severity of the situation. Once he was out, he looked around in the dark, seeing if he could see what exactly was going on where. When his eyes adjusted to the light, he gasped. Standing on top of the hills overlooking the town were dozens, if not hundreds, of silhouettes, all of which were clearly dogs and were preventing anyone from escaping.

"How many dogs does this Damien have?" Hook growled, running after Ichiro, who was headed for the center of the town.

"Not this many!" Ichiro answered.

"Where are the humans?" Hook said.

"They fled to Kyoto!" Ichiro said. "They should be getting help from other humans. Most of the ones with the guns aren't here right now! Come on! We need to drive these bastards off!"

"I'll do what I can." Hook responded.

They ran towards the Southern end of the village, where there was already fierce fighting going on. Hook watched as groups of dogs bit and ripped each others flesh, and he heard whimpers and yelps of pain from everywhere around him. Ichiro grabbed a dog hurting one of his subordinates and threw him aside roughly, ripping part of his neck out as he did so. Hook was just about to jump into the fight to help when suddenly Ichiro was hit from the side and thrown to the ground. The hunting dog rolled back to his paws quickly and looked up at his attacker.

"Damien!" he snarled.

The other dog snarled back, a smile on his muzzle.

"What's the matter, Ichiro?" he said, sounding very smug and triumphant. "Caught off guard?"

"This time you've gone too far you bastard!" Ichiro said. "You'll pay the price for attacking our home!"

"Not this time!" Damien hissed. "This time we've got help! And now you're going to die!"

They lunged simultaneously and met in mid-air, slashing at each other with their claws. Hook saw blood fly from both of them and they landed facing each other, both looking furious. He knew that he shouldn't interfere with a leaders' battle, so he didn't leap in to help Ichiro. Looking around, he saw that the dogs on the hilltops hadn't moved, and were standing exactly where they had been when he had first come out into the fight.

'Why aren't they attacking?' he thought to himself.

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Ronin glanced left at Scimitar, who was glaring down at the fighting below with a strange smile on his muzzle.

"Should we help them?" Ronin asked, interested to see what his boss's reaction to the question would be.

Scimitar cocked his head slightly, not looking at him.

"They seem so angry." he said, "Damien wasn't lying about the history between them it seems."

"Why does it matter?" Ronin scoffed. "If they want to kill each other then I say let them."

"If you're going to start wars and kill others of your own kind you should at least enjoy it." the wolf said in a voice that nearly made the malamute's blood run cold. "They don't seem to be doing that."

"So we stay here?" Takeshi asked from Scimitar's other side.

"No." Scimitar said, and the two followed his gaze to a pair of torches left burning on the side of one of the buildings by the humans. "Let's help these poor dogs 'burn' away this fury that seems to have such a hold on them."

Ronin looked hard at the torches and laughed low in his throat as Takeshi allowed a toothy, bloodthirsty grin to spread over his muzzle, both of them understanding what he meant. Scimitar just smiled.

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Hook threw another dog and dodged a second attack from the side as the first dog hit one of the buildings and fell to the ground motionless. He looked around for Ichiro but saw nothing amidst the chaos around him. The hunting dog had still been fighting Damien when Hook had lost track of him and had been bleeding heavily. Hook looked up again at the dogs on the hill. Still motionless.

'What the hell is going on here?' he thought.

During a lull in the fighting, he moved towards another area where it was more intense and nearly tripped over a motionless form. Looking down, he gasped. Ichiro lay dead in a pool of his own blood, his face and throat slashed to ribbons and his eyes staring vacantly ahead, looking almost surprised. Next to him lay Damien, whose tongue lolled out the side of his broken jaw and who also had clearly been dead for a little while.

Hook winced at the sight, and when he opened his eyes he noticed a strange light right at the edge of his vision that hadn't been there before. Whipping his head around on his shoulders, he looked at it and froze dead in his tracks. One of the humans' buildings had caught fire and was now engulfed in flames. To make matters worse, other buildings around it were rapidly becoming raging infernos as well and soon he realized that the entire perimeter of Oroshi was being turned into essentially a wall of fire, keeping all of the dogs that were fighting inside it trapped and making the flames slowly close in on them from all sides. Turning his head towards the fighting dogs near him, he caught a glimpse of something on the hilltop. Looking up, he gasped silently. One of the silhouetted dogs there was clearly holding one of the humans' lit torches in his mouth, flames licking malevolently on the end of it. Hook's eyes widened, looking at the burning buildings and then back to the dog with the torch.

"No…" he said aloud. "You couldn't have…"

But then he remembered a story that he had heard Akame tell Weed once, about when he had set his old ninja-dog stronghold in his former territory of Iga on fire to end a war that his clan had been fighting at the time, and Hook knew that the dogs on the hill were responsible for this. Glaring back, he thought he saw the dog's eyes look directly at him, a suppressed glee evident in them, before it whipped its head to the side and threw the torch down at the mass of fighting dogs below, almost like an afterthought. Hook saw it land on one of the buildings near them and he faintly but clearly heard someone say:

"Kill anyone who gets out."

Panicking, Hook turned and ran, every sense in his body screaming 'Danger'. Suddenly, he felt intense heat on his rump and back and looked up to see the whole side of the building next to him falling right on him, the flames getting stronger as it crumbled. Before his terrified mind could command his body to react further, he was knocked off his paws by a piece of falling debris, and when he hit something hard seconds later, everything went black and Hook knew no more.

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Hook groaned as his eyes flickered open, his head killing him. The world was spinning and out of focus and he took a minute to compose himself, panting in pain and exhaustion. Suddenly, he was rolled onto his back and found himself staring up at a group of figures who were standing over him. As they slowly came into focus, he recognized one of them with a rush of fear as Takeshi, the former Koga dog's customary mohawk giving him away instantly. As Hook looked up at them, one of them, a black-furred wolf who was directly in the center of his vision, stared back down at him intensely.

"Welcome back." he said and Hook glared back at him.

"Why did- Why did you-?" he tried to ask, his whole body protesting his attempts to get up.

"Because it served my purpose." came the answer. "And now so will you."

Hook growled but remained on the ground, finding that he was not only surrounded, but still too stunned to make any moves to get away. He met the wolf's gaze angrily.

"You killed them!" he growled. "All those dogs! Your **own** dogs! For no reason!"

"I **had **a reason!" the wolf hissed, no longer wearing a smug expression on his face. "You just aren't smart enough to see what it is."

"Who **are** you?" Hook asked furiously, his teeth bared as the wolf lowered his head so that he was at eye level with him.

"My name is Scimitar," he answered to Hook's surprise. "And the only reason you get to know is because that's also part of my plan."

"What plan?"

Scimitar smiled.

"So many questions." he said. "Well here's one of mine. You're from Ohu aren't you?"

Hook was caught off guard.

"And if I am?" he asked defiantly.

"Then you're about to wish you weren't." was the response.

"If you're going to kill me then get on with it." Hook growled. "Don't stand there talking."

Scimitar snorted.

"I'm not going to kill you, friend," he said. "I need you to deliver a message to your leader, Weed."

Hook froze.

"You know Weed?"

"But unfortunately for you." Scimitar said, apparently ignoring him. "Delivering this particular message doesn't require that I send you back in one piece."

Hook felt fear grip him as the other dogs there suddenly held him down and Scimitar leaned in so his face was only inches away.

"Now," he said. "Listen closely…"

**---**


	6. Scimitar The Kinslayer

**Author's Note: **This chapter is long, but provides important back story on the villain, so you need to read it to understand him better. Again, please review! I really appreciate it.

**---**

Weed ran quickly, feeling the ground underneath his paws change its texture again, as it had multiple times over the hours he and the pack had been running South towards their destination. It was roughly mid-day, and Weed was getting both hungry and tired, but his determination to get to Ronin and Takeshi and stop them overrode both sensations. The exhausted panting around him though, told him that some of the lower ranking soldiers didn't quite have the endurance that he and the other high ranking dogs had, so he slowed to a halt right as they reached the edge of a small forest that they had to go through to continue on their way.

"Hold up, everyone!" he called so they could all hear him. "Let's rest here for a while!"

The rest of the pack stopped near him at those words, not needing further encouragement, and flopped down on the ground to rest. When they were all settled, Jerome walked up to Weed.

"Weed," he said, subconsciously adding an 'o' at the end of his friend's name the way he always had. "We should go hunt for some food for the pack."

Weed nodded in agreement.

"You're right." he said. "I'll go. But I'll need a few of you to help me."  
"With all respect, Weed." Akame said, suddenly standing to address him. "I need to talk to you if I may."

The akita blinked in surprise, then nodded.

"Of course, Akame-san." he said.

"I'll go instead." Mel said quickly, looking to Weed for approval.

Weed nodded at him and the golden retriever looked pleased.

"You sure you can do it?" Kyoushiro asked him skeptically from his position on the ground.

"Hey, I can do it!" Mel protested. "You **know** I can!"

"I know you've failed before too." Kyoushiro answered. "And I'm **really** hungry right now Mel, so you'll forgive my lack of faith in your hunting skills."

"You know," Mel said, clearly irritated but knowing the kishu was playing. "You're welcome to try and beat me if you think you're better. But I'm still going."

Kyoushiro looked up fast, having put his head down on his paws.

"Oh, it's on now!" he said, licking his lips excitedly at the challenge and jumping up next to him. "Let's do this!"

"Let's!" Mel echoed and the two ran off in different directions to go hunt.

The rest of the pack looked after them as they disappeared from sight and Kurotura snorted, looking at Gin.

"Remember when we were young like that?" he said half-sarcastically and Gin chuckled.

"Dad," Kagetora said from a few feet away. "Were you **ever** young like that?"

Kurotura turned fast and snapped at him with his jaws, making the younger Kai dog jump aside as the rest of the pack laughed around them. Weed grinned, but then saw Akame motion with his head away from the group and he turned and followed the ninja dog into the trees. They stopped when they were just out of earshot of the group and Akame turned to Weed.

"Weed," he said, "At the pace we're going, we may run into Ronin and Takeshi in about a week's time if we're lucky enough to find them quickly."

"I know." Weed said. "I don't want to move any faster if we don't have to, though. I want the dogs to be ready for the battle when we get there, not exhausted."

"I agree." Akame said sagely, "But it's what happens when we do get there that I want to talk to you about."

"What do you mean?" Weed asked, frowning slightly.

Akame looked at him almost apologetically, but with a slight air of suspicion.

"Leader." he said, sounding like was choosing his words delicately. "You know I trust you, both as a leader and a friend. They all do. You're as good a leader as your father. But there are things about what might happen that…well…concern me."

Weed stared at him, nodding slightly in understanding.

"You're worried I won't have it in me to kill them when we find them aren't you?" he said.

Akame looked slightly caught off guard, but masked his surprise very well.

"Yes." he answered bluntly. "You've never had to deal with this kind of situation before. I'm just trying to figure out if you'll need help deciding how to handle it."  
"Akame," Weed said, knowing the ninja dog meant well, but unable to hide his slight irritation. "Those dogs forfeited my good will the minute they decided to kill again. I won't spare them a second time when they clearly didn't deserve a first."

"I'm not trying to doubt you, Weed." Akame said after a brief pause. "I'm just trying to advise you like I did your father."

Weed looked him in the eye.

"I know." he said. "And I thank you. But I promise you I don't need guidance on this. I may be a very easy dog to get along with, but that doesn't mean I don't have a sense of justice. And now that justice will be directed at them."

Akame nodded, smiling slightly, clearly happy the exchange had gone as well as it had. Suddenly, his ears perked up and he turned his head sharply towards the pack.

"What is it?" Weed asked, noticing.

Akame shushed him and turned towards where they had come from, looking hard though the trees.

"Someone's coming from the path we've been taking." he said. "And there's more than one of them."

"Enemies?" Weed asked, looking in the direction he was.

"I don't know." The kishu said, glancing at him.

Weed kept looking but still saw nothing.

"Let's get back to the pack." he said and Akame nodded and followed him as he bounded off.

When they emerged from the trees, Weed saw that Mel and Kyoushiro had returned with food already, the former looking annoyed and put out and the latter looking smugly pleased with himself, both of them gnawing on pieces of squirrels and other small animals that they had brought back for food. The others were eating as well, and when they saw their two friends return, they looked up at them.

"Here guys." Hiro said, tossing each of them a dead field mouse from the pile the group was taking the food from.

Weed thanked him and ate it, warily watching for any approaching dogs.

"So," Rocket said as Weed lay down near him. "What did you and Akame talk about?"

Weed looked at him, pausing.

"The future." he said cryptically and Rocket frowned.

"HELP!"

Weed stood up fast and so did Akame, who was next to Gin. The whole pack stopped what they were doing and looked around in confusion.

"What the-" Ken started to say when a figure appeared on the rise of the hill they had just come from.

Weed stepped forward in front of the pack as they stood and tried to see the figure better as it approached. When it got closer and he recognized it, he straightened up in surprise. Before he could say anything though, Jerome beat him to it.

"Lydia!" he barked in concern, and ran at her as she approached.

Rocket and Kagetora started to follow him, but all three of them stopped dead in their tracks when they saw what she was carrying towards them. When Weed saw it too, he let out a gasp. Slumped over her back, unmoving and with his hind legs jutting out at an odd angle, was Hook. Jerome supported Lydia as she walked with difficulty up to them and gently lay Hook down on the ground, being careful with his head. Weed walked up to her quickly with most of the others crowded behind him and looked intensely at her.

"What happened?" he demanded and Lydia opened her mouth to answer.

Before she could, though, another voice interrupted.

"…W-Weed?...Is that you?..."

Weed and the others looked down and saw Hook moving his head in their direction slightly, looking as if he were struggling to roll over.

"Yes, Hook." Weed said. "It's me. We're all here. What happened? I thought you were down in-…"

He trailed off as Hook looked over his shoulder at them and heard grunts of shock and horror from the others around him. His own heart had jumped up into his throat and he found that he couldn't make himself speak. Hook stared back at them with two empty eye sockets, the rest of his face bloody but surprisingly untouched. The sight was so horrifying that he almost didn't notice the other major injury the dog had sustained: his back was broken. The fact that he had not even attempted to move anything but his head told Weed that his friend was paralyzed, and he closed his eyes in a combination of fury and sadness. Hook nodded slowly, his face showing his own sadness well even without his eyes.

"It's fine." he said, though his tone of voice suggested otherwise. "I'll live."

"W-What happened?" Weed repeated, staring uncomfortably at Hook's eyes.

"I was…I was in Oroshi Territory, near Kyoto." Hook said. "We were attacked."

"By who?" Gin asked, an angry edge to his voice.

Hook paused for a minute and seemed to be composing himself.

"At first we-we thought it was a local troublemaker and his pack," he said, "But then there were other dogs with them and…and they killed…everyone."

Weed knew the answer to his next question before he even asked it.

"Was it Ronin and Takeshi?"

Hook nodded and Weed felt himself almost trembling in fury. He heard growling around him on every side and could tell that the others were as angry as he was.

"But they weren't-" Hook started and Weed looked at him again.

"Hook?" Akame said.

Hook turned his face up to them and they could tell that he was very troubled. After a long pause, he answered.

"They weren't in charge."

Weed was caught totally off guard. He looked confusedly at Hook.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"There was another dog who was the boss." came the answer. "He was the one in charge."

The Ohu army looked around at each other. Could this be true?

"Are you sure?" Gin asked intensely and Hook nodded again.

"He's the one who had the others do…**this** to me."

"Who was he?" Tesshin asked.

Hook shook his head.

"I don't know." he said. "He told me his name, but…I don't know where he came from or who he really was."

"What did he say his name was?" Jerome asked from his position by Lydia.

"Scimitar." Hook answered. "He said his name was Scimitar."

Lydia suddenly made a noise and they all turned their heads to her. When Weed looked at her, he noticed that she was trembling. Her eyes were wide and terrified and she was looking at Hook with an expression of absolute horror. Jerome nudged her lightly with his snout.

"Lydia?" he asked. "Are you okay? What's wrong?"

She didn't acknowledge him and looked right at Hook.

"Scimitar?!" she said in a soft, quavering voice and Hook nodded. "He-He's **here**?!"

"Do you know him?" Gin asked her and her eyes whipped back and forth at all of them.

She nodded, backing up a few steps in shock.

"I-I thought he was dead!" she said and Weed moved over to her, lowering his head down to her level.

"Who is he?" he asked in a determined voice and she looked at him and then Jerome, who was on her other side.

"He's a-a warlord." she said, "From where I come from. From Russia."

Weed looked at her intensely, his father, Akame, and Kurotura walking up next to him.

"Lydia." he said. "I need you to tell me exactly who this 'Scimitar' is. Everything you know."

She nodded after a pause and looked up at him after composing herself a little.

"Scimitar was one of a group of 5 warlords from where my brother and I used to live as military dogs in Russia." she said in a surprisingly calm voice. "They were all wolves, and they were called 'The Watchers'."

"Watchers?" Kagetora repeated from his position next to Ken and George and she nodded at him.

"The pet dogs and the friendly wild dogs of the area nicknamed them 'The Watchers' because they thought they were watching them and their families for signs of dissent." Lydia said. "They controlled most of northern and eastern Russia and Siberia."

"And he was one of them?" Weed asked and she nodded at him too.

"Scimitar controlled the furthest eastern territory." she said. "The one closest to the ocean. He was the youngest and most mysterious of the group of them. And according to my father, he was also the most vicious."

"How bad was he?" Hiro asked from his position in the back near Mel and Rocket.

Lydia seemed to shudder.

"He was a monster." she said in a subdued voice. "The other wolves called him 'Scimitar the Kinslayer' because he killed so many of his own kind. He even killed his own brother to become the leader of his pack and that's when he got really bad. The other 4 warlords were all horrible too, but…they all had a reason for doing what they did, being as brutal as they were. Some wanted territory, some just wanted more and more power, but not Scimitar. He never tried to get more land or increase his pack size, he just seemed…"

She paused and then dropped her voice to a near whisper.

"He just seemed to like watching other dogs suffer." she said and Weed felt a chill go through him. "He seemed to get off on it. Like he had no greater plan than to inflict as much pain as he possibly could on as many dogs as he could. My father and brother were trying to rally dogs together before we came over here to try and overthrow 'The Watchers'. I assumed that when Maxime went back to Russia that's what they had done."

Kurotura stepped forward a little and the pack glanced over at him as he looked hard at her.

"How do you know all this?" he asked half-suspiciously. "Have you ever met this bastard?"

Jerome gave him a warning glare for his tone of voice but the Kai dog patriarch ignored him. Lydia looked at him and nodded.

"My father told me most of what I know about him." she said. "But I **have** met him. Just once."

She straightened up a little and looked at Weed and Gin.

"When you're a military dog you can't show fear." she said, sounding almost proud. "You can't let things scare you, especially if you're the only female in the pack. There have been very few dogs that have truly scared me, but…but he was one of them. He just…he seemed to know things, things he shouldn't have known. He always had some way of getting dogs and wolves he hardly knew to follow his every order, no matter what it was. And his eyes were just…"

"Frightening." Hook finished from his position on the ground and the pack turned back to him.

"What does he look like?" Weed asked him and Hook raised his face to him.

"He's a wolf," the dog said. "With black fur and a long mane and icy blue eyes. His left eye has two scars through it that form a sort of upside-down cross."

"That's him." Lydia said fearfully. "Oh god, what is he doing **here**?!"

"He told me to give you a message, soudaishou." Hook said and Weed tilted his head warily.

"What message?" he asked.

"He said to tell you: 'All's fair in love and war'." Hook answered.

Weed frowned slightly at this, but Kyoushiro voiced what he was thinking.

"What the hell is **that** supposed to mean?"

Hook shook his head.

"I don't know but that's what he said to tell you." he said.

"It's a warning." Akame said in response, looking troubled. "It means that he'll stop at nothing to accomplish his goal."

"Which is what?" Ken asked next to him and Akame shook his head.

Weed looked back at Lydia and Hook.

"Could he really be doing this simply for the sake of hurting others?" he asked. "Could he really have no greater purpose?"

"It's possible." Lydia said but Hook shook his head.

"I'm not sure." he said. "But I can tell you this. He seemed to show a particular interest in you, leader."

The dogs looked uneasy and Weed nodded, feeling the same way.

Then he shook his head a little to clear his thoughts and looked down at Hook with pity and compassion.

"Whatever his agenda is, we'll deal with it later." he said. "Try and get some rest. You and Lydia will return to Gajou when you get your strength back."

Hook didn't respond and looked at him strangely, even without his eyes.

"Yes Leader." he half-whispered and Weed nodded and turned away to the others to talk with them about what to do.

Hook turned his head and sniffed the air. When he caught a particular scent, he called out its owner's name. Mel turned and looked at him, walking quickly up to him.

"Can I talk to you alone?" Hook asked softly and Mel, knowing that something was wrong, nodded.

Looking uncomfortable at his friend's condition, Mel picked up Hook in his jaws and carried him away from the others until they were back over the hill and out of sight and earshot of them. Then he lay him down on his side and looked at him concernedly.

"What is it Hook?" he asked.

Hook gave him the same strange look he had given Weed.

"Mel," he said. "We've known each other a long time. I've known you longer than I've known even Weed and I trust you with my life."

Mel looked touched and nodded at him.

"Thank you." he said.

"Which is why I need you to do something for me."

"Anything." Mel said.

Hook sightlessly looked him right in the face.

"Kill me." he whispered.

Mel's eyes went wide with shock and he took a step back from Hook's prone form.

"What?!" he barked in shock, sure he had heard wrong. "Hook, what are- "

"Listen to me!" Hook growled suddenly and Mel fell silent.

The older dog lay his head back down and Mel saw a few tears slide down his furred cheek.

"I'm a soldier of Ohu." he said. "Like you are. It's the greatest life I've ever known and you all are my family. But I can't help defend you all like this…"

He turned his head back to Mel.

"Mel, please." he said, voice almost quavering. "I don't like to beg, but I'm begging you now. I can live with being blind, but not like this. I won't even be able to go to the bathroom without one of you helping me, let alone help protect our pack. Please…"

Mel clenched his eyes shut and shook his head.

"Hook, don't ask me to do this, please." he pleaded. "Not me."

"Weed would never do it." Hook said. "And you know that. I'm sorry to ask this of you but you're my friend. And if you consider yourself my friend, you'll do this for me."

Mel kept his eyes shut and looked like he would've rather been anywhere but there. Deep down, he knew that he couldn't talk Hook into changing his mind and he couldn't say that he wouldn't have wanted the same if he were in the same position. Despite that, he tried to fight his own loyalty as long as he could until he finally had no will left to do so. Tears streaming down his face, he walked up to Hook and nudged him over onto his back. Then he grabbed him gently by the throat with his jaws. Hook smiled and didn't struggle.

"Thank you, Mel." he said. "But don't tell Weed, not right away. He has enough to deal with right now."

Mel trembled as he tightened his grip.

"I hate you for this." he said and Hook's smile remained on his muzzle.

"I thank you for this." he answered, then added softly. "I'm ready. I'll tell GB you said hello."

Mel bit down hard and pulled.

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Weed called everyone to attention, looking determinedly at his comrades. When they were all at attention, he spoke.

"I've decided that we need to split the pack up." he said and a murmur went through the dogs, but Weed continued. "We need to get more help if we're dealing with a warlord, especially if this wolf's as dangerous as Lydia says. So we're splitting the pack up into three groups, all of whom need to go gather as many dogs as possible to help us bring these bastards to justice."

Gin walked up next to him and nodded supportively.

"I agree." he said. "We need to be prepared for anything."

Weed nodded back at him and then turned to the others.

"My father, Akame, Hiro, Rocket, and Mel will take one group and go back up north towards Hokkaido." he said. "Get Suzaku and his pack and anyone else you can. Meanwhile, Tesshin will lead a group including Ken, George, Sasuke, Kyoushiro, and Kurotura west and gather dogs from the territories over in that direction. Get my brother's help while you're there. Jerome, Kagetora, Shigure and I will take the remaining dogs and gather allies from the east, then head south and try and slow down Scimitar and his pack. We need to do this quickly before these bastards hurt any more innocent dogs. Is that understood?"

The dogs yelled in support and Weed looked satisfied.

"Be careful all of you." he said seriously. "I forbid any one of you to die, down to the lowest ranking soldier."

Everyone looked proud of their leader's speech and he met their gazes.

"Alright, everyone," Weed called, "Let's move!"

As the dogs moved into their respective groups and began saying their goodbyes, Weed saw Mel emerge from the path they had come from and he stopped.

"Mel," he said. "Where were you? Where's Hook?"

Mel stopped and looked at him, and Weed could tell that he'd been crying. Before he could ask him anything else, though, Mel answered:

"He's waiting on the other side of the hill for Lydia to…to carry him home."

Weed frowned in suspicion and concern but didn't push the matter.

"All right," he said. "You're with my father's group Mel. He'll explain what's happening."

Mel nodded and walked towards Gin and Akame. As he passed, he exchanged glances with Jerome, who saw in his eyes what Weed had failed to see and nodded at him slowly, clenching his eyes shut in sorrow. Then he turned to Lydia to tell her what to do about it and say goodbye. Over by Tesshin, Ken looked at over at Kagetora from George and Kurotura's sides.

"Kage!" he called and when the Kai dog looked at him added. "Be careful."

Kagetora grinned over at him.

"Worry about yourself, Ken. We'll be fine." he said and his friend returned the grin.

"Protect Weed, Kagetora!" Kurotura added, not letting on how proud he was of his oldest son.

"Yes father." Kagetora answered and went to Weed's side as Jerome joined him too.

When the groups were separate and ready and all goodbyes had been said, the leaders of each one called to their subordinates and the Ohu army went their separate ways, splitting their ranks to get help to combat the evil that threatened them, none of them knowing that Scimitar and his pack had already unwittingly done the exact same thing.

**---**


	7. Decisions

**Author's Note:** Yep, Daisuke's in this story! Didn't see that one coming, did you? Please review. I really appreciate it.

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Daisuke glanced in his mirror. The police car that had been following him was gone now, so he stepped harder on the gas of his Mitsubishi SUV, which he had gotten as a graduation gift from his girlfriend only 2 weeks before. He had spent the last few years at Tokyo University, studying rigorously to become a vet and work with dogs, and had just been planning on returning home to see his family, who lived near Futago Pass, when he'd heard from his old mentor Hidetoshi that something had happened down near Kyoto. When he had inquired further, Hidetoshi had just shrugged and promised to tell him later. When he had gotten in the SUV and told Daisuke the truth, though, the young man had wished he hadn't.

Apparently, a small town to the east of Kyoto, called Oroshi, had been attacked by a large pack of dogs and had somehow caught fire during the attack. It had burned to the ground quickly and completely and 11 people had died, including 4 children. Even worse, one of the dogs that had been seen escaping on the back of another dog had been a light colored one with spots that was known to be a part of the Futago Pass pack…Gin's pack. As a result, the authorities in Kyoto wanted to send hunters up to Futago Pass and kill off the wild dogs that were living there. Daisuke squeezed the steering wheel harder in anger. How could they think that Gin had done this? How could they?! He liked to think that as Gin's former master, partner, and close friend, he could keep the hero dogs of Futago Pass safe from other humans like himself, but the more life went on, the more he realized that that wasn't something that could always happen. And now this… Now they were both driving down to Kyoto to attend a meeting the authorities had called together to address the issue of what to do one final time before solidifying their decision. Daisuke didn't quite know why they had been invited, but he was glad for the opportunity to defend Gin's reputation.

He shook his head and glanced over at Hidetoshi, who once upon a time had been Gin's best friend John's owner. The older man seemed to be sleeping with his head against the glass window of the car and Daisuke shook him awake. After all, they were practically there. Hidetoshi stirred slowly and blinked sleep out of his eyes.

"Mmm…" he groaned slightly. "Are we there, Daisuke?"

"Just arriving, Sensei." Daisuke answered. "Are you sure the authorities want us here?"

"I'm one of the top hunters in the country and I told them that you used to be the owner of the leader of these dogs." Hidetoshi said, "They want our input. Besides I thought you'd want to be here."

"I do." Daisuke said, "Gin didn't do this."

Hidetoshi looked at him calculatingly.

"Sure of that are you?"

"Come on, Sensei, you know him." the younger man said in a slightly frustrated tone. "You know John. Do you really think they would do this?"

"I think that John is dead." Hidetoshi answered. "We haven't seen him in years now, even when we've seen Gin and the other dogs, and as for whether they did it: no I don't think they did. That said, this isn't our decision to make. It's theirs. It's their jurisdiction, their area."

"So it's okay that we let them blame Gin and the others for this?" Daisuke asked angrily and Hidetoshi held up a hand.

"Don't get mad, Daisuke." he said warningly. "It won't help at all. We're here."

Daisuke looked out the window and saw a small glass building that had 'KYOTO POLICE DEPARTMENT' on the side of it in both English and Kanji, and he directed the car into the nearest parking space out front. Then he turned the car off and the two men looked at each other.

"We'll do what we can." Hidetoshi said. "But don't get your hopes up."

Then they got out and walked inside.

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Daisuke shifted his position in his seat at the table where he sat listening to the police chief tell everyone who was assembled everything they knew about what had happened in Oroshi. Though he didn't give any indication that he was paying attention, he was in fact listening very closely. Hidetoshi sat next to him, occasionally running a hand over the bald spot on top of his head in what Daisuke suspected was a nervous tick. He watched his friend for a moment, then turned back to the police chief, who had just finished speaking to the mayor of Oroshi and was now talking to the group.

"…and there was a local photographer who fled the town right after the attack, and he managed to take some pictures of some of the dogs that were responsible. One of the dogs in one of his pictures, a dog that was seen being carried away from the scene by another, was luckily for us recognized and identified by his former owner as a dog named…uh…'Hook'. We also know that this dog is part of the large pack currently residing in Futago Pass up north." he said, then put a file folder with the information he had been reading from on the table in front of him. "The question is: what should we do about it?"

"I say we kill them all." said a short, round man to his right and Daisuke clenched his fist. "We should send teams of hunters and kill them all."

"But they had nothing to do with this!" Daisuke blurted out and several people turned to look at him, including Hidetoshi, who had a warning look on his face.

"And how do you know that Mister –" the police chief asked with a frown.

"Daisuke, sir." the other said. "And I used to own the dog who is the leader of the pack in Futago Pass. I know the other dogs who are in that pack too, and I can tell you that under no circumstances would they ever attack people."

"So how do you explain the presence of this 'Hook' dog in Oroshi during the attack?"

"I- " Daisuke paused nervously. He had no answer for that one. "I don't know. But he may just be a rogue now. Maybe they kicked him out of the pack. Maybe – "

"Maybe this! Maybe that!" the mayor said angrily. "Maybe if we had dealt with these mutts sooner then we wouldn't have to make this decision at all! They die and that's the end of it!"

"Mr. Mayor, be quiet!" the police chief barked. "That's **my** decision, not yours! But with that said, Mr. Daisuke, with the evidence I have here, I have to agree with the general consensus. And that consensus tells me that the appropriate course of action here would be to eliminate these dogs, and any future threat they might pose."

"And what if they weren't actually responsible for this?" Hidetoshi asked calmly from his seat. "Wouldn't it make more sense to make sure which pack actually did this before taking action that could waste time?"

"And how would you suggest we do that Mr. Hidetoshi?" the police chief asked, looking a little irritated now. "Ask the dogs? I have 11 families demanding that we do something about this quickly, and I don't have the time to launch a full scale investigation into what pack **may** have done this when there's evidence right here that already implicates one. Now I'm sorry. But I'm sending hunting teams north at a date to be determined to exterminate the dogs of Futago Pass, or at the very least their leader."

Daisuke straightened up fast and made a move to protest, but Hidetoshi stopped him by cutting him off.

"Very well then, chief," he said. "I trust you don't need us anymore?"

"Well Mr. Hidetoshi," the other answered. "Given your reputation as a hunter, I would like you to lead one of the hunting teams."

Hidetoshi only hesitated a moment.

"I'll think about it." he said and half-dragged Daisuke out the door and back into the parking lot.

Once they were outside, Daisuke whirled and immediately launched into a tirade at his comrade.

"Sensei, you can't! They can't do this! Gin and the others didn't do anything wrong! They – " he said at a fast pace until Hidetoshi held up a hand, looking simultaneous irritated and sympathetic.

"Daisuke," he said. "I know how much those dogs mean to you. They mean a lot to me too. But we have to start facing reality here."

"Which is what?!" Daisuke asked angrily. "That they're about to go kill the wrong pack for this?"

"Yes."

"So we just sit back and let them?!"

"…Yes."

Daisuke let out an exasperated sigh of disgust and turned and headed for their SUV. Hidetoshi immediately followed him.

"What do expect to do, Daisuke?" the older man asked, now sounding irritated. "Are you going to steal their guns? Go out and stand in front of them so they can't shoot? Listen to me: let it go. Let Gin go."

"Gin is still my friend." Daisuke responded firmly, having gotten in the car. "And he has a family now. Those dogs saved us all from Akakabuto all those years ago. They deserve our eternal gratitude for that. And you wait! I'm going to find a way to stop these guys! You wait!"

Hidetoshi managed to jump in the car quickly before the brash young man sped off down the road, headed back the way they had come from, towards Futago Pass.

**---**


	8. Brothers And Blood Feuds

**Author's Note: **I wanted to start giving other characters more of a role, so the next few chapters are from different characters' points of view. This one's from Tesshin's. Please review!

**---**

Tesshin lowered his head a little and squinted harder at the path in front of them, trying to get a better view. They were getting close, his senses told him, and if they were lucky, they would be leaving with more than they arrived with. He himself had never been to Weed's brother Joe's territory, so he was relying on the other leading members of his group to tell him where to go, which had been easy enough, but actually getting there had been another story. The weather had been nothing short of bizarre ever since they left the rest of the pack, going from sun to rain to fog to rain again and even a little snow, which was really odd considering what time of year it was. Now it was raining harder than it had yet, and Tesshin and the others were having to endure the sheets of cold water hitting them in the face and soaking their fur.

He heard the others walking closely behind him and the rest of the pack that had gone with them following behind them, most of them on edge after having heard Lydia's story about Scimitar. As he crested a hill and started down the other side, Tesshin silently wondered how much of the story had been true. It wasn't that he doubted Lydia, it was just that he had always been more of a "believe-it-when-I-see-it" kind of dog, and this Scimitar sounded even worse than Hougen had been, and that concerned him. Hougen had been bad enough, Victor and Boslef had been worse, but if Scimitar was worse than any of them as Lydia seemed to be suggesting, then this could potentially be the Ohu Army's most dire hour. He wasn't going to worry about Scimitar himself just yet though, he decided, because he had other enemies to worry about. Takeshi…

Tesshin considered himself a fair dog, who didn't often hold grudges. This time, however, he couldn't deny his own hatred. Takeshi had disgraced the Koga ninja dogs in his eyes, had brought them back to the way they had been in the old days, back during the ninja dog war…when his father Kurojaki had led them. Kurojaki had always been something of a sore spot for Tesshin, and he hardly ever talked about him. The other older soldiers of Ohu, like Gin, Akame, and Kurotura, who had been there and had met his father, had never forced the issue, and he had always been grateful. The things he knew about his father had disgusted him, and yet somewhere deep down in him, part of him still loved Kurojaki at least a little. He had always sworn, though, that he would work with his pack elder Chourou to make the Kogas a noble pack, one worthy of respect as much as fear, but fear from evil dogs, not all dogs. This was something he had been proud to succeed in with Weed and Ohu's help…until Takeshi had engaged in his little blood sport and nearly broken old Chourou's heart. Tesshin nearly growled out loud and wondered silently if this is what Weed was feeling every time he thought of Ronin.

"We're almost there, Tesshin!" he heard Ken say behind him and he glanced over his shoulder.

"How much farther?"

"Not far!" Ken said. "Hopefully, Joe will have shelter for us from this damned rain when we get there!"

"Why do you think Joe stayed away for so long?" Kyoushiro asked and Ken shrugged.

"He had his reasons." George answered from Ken's other side. "I guarantee he was planning to come back to Ohu though. With his son, too."

"Did you have **your** reasons, George?" Ken asked in a slightly bitter sounding voice and Tesshin stopped as he heard the rest of them stop.

George looked at his older brother.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" George asked in a slightly challenging tone that suggested he knew exactly what Ken meant and didn't want to talk about it.

"You know exactly what I mean." Ken responded testily.

George growled slightly.

"Don't start with me, Ken!" he warned and Tesshin rolled his eyes.

Ever since the death of their renowned father Ben, Ken and George had had some unresolved issues between them that seemed to come and go at irregular intervals. Most of these issues involved the brothers' dead little sister Miney, who had accidentally drowned in a river many years ago, and though most of the other dogs knew of these problems, which stemmed from Ken not being told of his little sister's death until only a week or so before Ben died, they were wise enough to stay out of it and let the two grown siblings handle it between themselves. Most days the two were fine, and usually their relationship seemed so normal and brotherly that you would've been hard pressed to see that there was anything wrong at all. Unfortunately, it was the other days, as rare as they were, that everyone remembered. Tesshin didn't know what had flared their feud up again in recent days, but it seemed that all was not resolved yet and he silently hoped that they would figure out a way to put it to rest for good. Suddenly, Tesshin's senses went wild.

He turned to tell the quarrelling brothers to be quiet, and was suddenly tackled hard from the left. Tesshin and the figure, who had leapt out of the trees, tumbled end over end down the side of the shallow hill they'd been walking on top of, trying to out-muscle one another and slipping on the already soaked grass. When they landed at the bottom, Tesshin pushed off hard with all four of his legs and detached himself from his attacker. The other dog was already charging at him, though, and Tesshin hit him hard in the muzzle with his claws and then tried to dive on him. The figure rolled aside before he could hit his mark, though, and then grabbed Tesshin by the neck with its jaws before he could recover and slammed him to the ground hard, pinning him from behind. Hearing the others' voices calling his name, Tesshin steeled his will and, using a ninja-dog move Akame had once taught him, kicked his opponent's hind legs out from under him using his hind legs and then reached up, grabbed him by the neck with his jaws, and flipped him onto his back, pinning him.

"Stop! Stop it!"

Glancing up, he saw Sasuke, Kyoushiro, Kurotura, and the others bearing down on them fast. The other dog took advantage of this and smacked him in the eye with a paw. When Tesshin yelped in surprise and pain, he leapt away and came down facing him. Tesshin started to square off to him again when Kurotura and Ken leapt in between them.

"Stop!" Kurotura repeated angrily. "You should both pay attention more!"

Tesshin was about to ask him what he was going on about when the other dog spoke.

"Kurotura? Ken? Wh-What are you guys doing here?"

Tesshin recognized the voice's owner instantly and stepped forward.

"Joe?" he said in relief and the other dog looked at him incredulously.

"Tesshin?" he said in response, then lowered his head apologetically. "Oh… Forgive me, Tesshin, I thought you were someone else."

"It's all right, Joe." Tesshin responded and bowed his head a little in greeting.

Joe was Gin's oldest surviving son and Weed's brother. Except for numerous scars adorning his face, neck and back, Joe looked practically identical to Weed, from his size to his color. One of the only differences was his eyes, which had always seemed older and more mature than his brother's. In the last year, however, Weed's eyes had gotten less pup-like and more adult looking, making him and Joe almost interchangeable. In truth, Tesshin was half thankful for Joe's scars. Otherwise, he thought, the only way to tell the two apart would be by scent.

"Joe, what's going on?" he asked. "Why did you attack me?"

"There's been some nasty looking dogs around this area lately." came the response. "They've been trying to get other dogs to join them. If they refuse, they're attacked or killed."

Then he looked angry.

"Two days ago a group of them attacked my son. I thought you were one of them."

"Koujiro?" Sasuke asked. "Is he all right?!"

Joe nodded.

"He's fine. Usually he can take care of himself, but these bastards caught him off guard so I stepped in. I managed to kill the ones who were attacking him, but their comrades won't back down. They're still terrorizing this area."

"Is their leader a wolf?" George asked him and the akita shook his head.

"No," he said. "A Shikoku-ken mix of some kind. He looks like a Koga dog. That's why I attacked you Tesshin, I thought you were him."

Tesshin growled.

"Takeshi." he said angrily.

"Yeah." Kyoushiro said in agreement. "The question is: Is this just a coincidence or did Scimitar send him after Joe and Koujiro on purpose?"

"Scimitar?" Joe asked in confusion.

"It's a long story." Tesshin responded.

"Short version:" George said. "Weed and the pack are in trouble."

Joe stood up straighter.

"Did something happen to my brother?!" he asked, a slight tinge of fear in his voice.

"Not yet." Ken said. "But we need your help and any other dogs around here willing to fight."

"There are a number that I know of." Joe said nodding. "But what's going on?"

"Come with us." Tesshin said turning back to the top of the hill they had been on originally. "We'll explain as much as we can."

* * *

Joe didn't answer for a moment as he sat in front of them, nor did Koujiro, who was at his side and looked just as worried as his father. They were in an old hunting shack on the outskirts of the town where Joe's master lived, and were being careful not to be spotted by any of the town's human hunters. It was only a mile or so away from the place where Joe and Weed had first reunited, which seemed now like a lifetime ago despite the few short years between then and now. Finally, Joe looked up at Tesshin and the others.

"He's a warlord?" he asked tensely.

Tesshin nodded.

"That's what Lydia says, yes."

"And he's after my brother?" Joe asked.

"We don't know what he wants." Tesshin said truthfully. "His real motives are as much a mystery to us as to you."

"But he **is** dangerous." Joe said.

"Extremely." Kyoushiro answered from amidst the group.

Joe looked down again and seemed to be lost in thought. Koujiro glanced over at his father.

"Dad," he said. "We have to do something. Uncle Weed needs us."

"I know," Joe responded. "Don't interrupt, Koujiro."

Then he looked at the group of them.

"Of course **we'll** come back to help, but it may take some doing to convince other dogs around here to help fight a war." he said.

"We'll just have to persuade them then." George said and the rest of the pack nodded in agreement.

Joe followed suit a few seconds later.

"We'll figure out a way to do it." he said. "But first, let's wait for this rain to stop. I don't feel like being out in this any longer than I have to."

Tesshin smirked.

"Neither do I." he agreed and turned to the pack, who had crammed in behind them under the shack's unstable looking but leak-less roof.

"Everyone rest." he barked. "We move out when the rain stops."

The pack didn't need any further encouragement, and he heard them shaking the water out of their fur and lying down as he sat down next to Joe, who had moved over to the door and was staring out at the rainstorm. Koujiro had gone to talk with Sasuke and Tesshin felt comfortable enough to talk to Joe candidly and openly.

"What is it?" he asked, noticing the conflicted look on the akita's face.

Joe sighed slowly.

"How angry is Weed that I never came back?" he asked, never looking at Tesshin.

"I haven't seen him be angry at all." Tesshin responded with a frown. "Why would he be?"

"Because we…had some problems before I left." Joe said, looking uncomfortable about saying it at all.

Tesshin's eyes widened a little in surprise. This was the first he'd heard about this.

"What kind of problems?" he asked.

Joe glanced at him, looking as if he was weighing his options before he said anything. Then he lowered his voice and continued.

"I love my brother," he said. "I really do. But I…had some problems taking orders from him."

When Tesshin looked confused he gave him his full attention.

"Look," he said, "When we were pups, it was always Yukimura and me who did everything. Hunted, fought off intruders, took care of our mother… Weed was the runt. He- he just didn't have what it took to keep up with us, even though we were basically the same age. And even though it's been more than two years since we found each other again, I just…"

He trailed off, but Tesshin understood what he meant.

"Even though you know that he's not the pup he once was, he's still your little brother." he said and Joe looked at him. "And it was hard to take his orders instead of give them."

Joe looked away and then nodded slowly. Tesshin smiled and looked back at the rain.

"I think he knew." he said. "But if he didn't than I guarantee he won't be too angry. Weed has a talent for forgiveness and understanding."

"I've noticed." Joe said and they both laughed quietly.

Suddenly, they heard what sounded like an impact hit and a grunt of pain behind them. Whirling around, Tesshin saw Ken stumble backwards into the wall of the shack, shaking his head to clear it as a trickle of blood ran down between his eyes. In front of him stood George, who looked positively livid.

"Fuck you, Ken!" he shouted furiously.

Ken rounded on him quickly.

"Fuck me?" he responded nastily. "You really are a piece of work, George, you know that?! It's bad enough that you stood there and watched her die and didn't do anything to help, but the fact that you never even **told** me that she was dead just **proves** what a coward you are!"

George suddenly lunged faster than Tesshin had ever seen him move and grabbed Ken, who also had been caught off guard, by the neck. Then he picked him up and in one fluid motion threw him hard at the wall. Ken's large body went clear through the half-rotten wooden beams and he landed in the grass with a 'THUD' amid splinters and puddles from the rain. Tesshin leapt and grabbed one of George's long saluki ears, holding the angry dog back as he went at his brother again. Kyoushiro and Sasuke jumped to help him as Joe and Kurotura held back Ken, who now had more blood streaming down his face as well as his back. When they were both secure, Tesshin moved between them, angrier than he had been in a long time.

"What the hell is going on?!" he snarled furiously.

Neither one of them answered and they glared at each other, ignoring Tesshin. The ninja dog noticed this and it made him angrier.

"Weed put me in charge of this group," he growled at them. "And while I'm in charge you will LOOK AT ME WHEN I'M TALKING TO YOU!"

A shocked silence fell over the whole group and both Ken and George looked momentarily stunned at this outburst, neither one having ever seen their friend this angry. They both looked at Tesshin, their demeanors reflecting a combined defiance and shame. Tesshin glared at them each in turn, his teeth bared.

"Now I don't know why this started up again between you two," he said, lowering his voice a little. "But we have enough problems right now without having to deal with this! We're already fighting one war, I will not have you fighting another! Understand?!"

Ken nodded slowly, looking pointedly in the other direction, but George roughly shook Kyoushiro and the others off him and looked him in the eye.

"Don't worry, Tesshin," he said, and the ninja-dog saw sadness in his eyes on top of the anger there. "You won't have to 'deal' with me anymore."

Then he turned and ran out the entrance, water being kicked up in his wake as both Kurotura and Kyoushiro ran and called after him. There was no response and Tesshin sighed heavily and looked at Joe, who had escorted Ken back inside and met his gaze sympathetically.

"Everyone," Tesshin called. "Keep resting. There's nothing else to see here."

The pack did just that, though a little more hesitantly than usual as Tesshin walked up to Ken. Joe went back over to Koujiro as he approached, leaving the two alone as Tesshin sat down in front of his friend. For a second, neither of them spoke, and then Tesshin saw Ken look at him finally.

"What happened, Ken?" he asked quietly, "What happened?"

Ken sighed.

"I ran my mouth off again." he said and Tesshin was surprised that he had admitted it so openly. "I said something to him about our sister."

"Why?"

Ken paused again, then looked hard at the wall, licking some blood off his lips.

"It's the anniversary of her death today." he said and Tesshin's eyes went wide.

'So that's why all the fighting!' he thought then shook his head slowly at the Great Dane.

"So you thought you would rub it in his face?" Tesshin asked sternly and Ken looked at him angrily.

"He didn't even tell me that she had died!" he growled. "None of them did!"

"Because he was ashamed." Tesshin responded. "Because he thinks that it was his fault, Ken. I barely know the details of what happened and **I** can tell that."

The other dog didn't answer and Tesshin stood up again.

"If I were you," he said. "I would find him and apologize once he cools off. You're brothers. You should be lucky you have each other at all."

Then he walked away, leaving Ken looking half mortified. Tesshin had learned a lot about talking to his friends openly by watching Weed, and though he had gotten good at it, he secretly envied the younger dog's ability to connect with others so well. He had always wondered what it would be like to have a sibling, and as he sat down by the shack door again, he hoped that they could somehow put this behind them and get back to being what they should be: comrades.

* * *

George stormed through the trees, grabbing a small branch in his teeth and ripping it off the trunk angrily as he came to a clearing, rain soaking him clear through his fur to the skin beneath. He didn't quite know how long he'd been walking, or where he was going to go, but he couldn't just go back. Every time he thought of Ken, his temper flared up again and he clenched his teeth angrily as tears stung his eyes.

'How dare he!' he thought. 'That bastard doesn't have a clue what it was like!'

He stood for a minute, contemplating what to do. Once he had decided, he turned and walked into the clearing, making it halfway across with only a few strides. Suddenly, something leapt on him from above and tore into his shoulder, making George yelp in pain in spite of himself. Whirling around, he threw it off his back and was immediately jumped on by three more dogs, all of whom definitely meant business. Panicking, he grabbed one in midair and threw him into another, sending both of them sprawling. When the first one bit his tail, he kicked him in the eye with his hind leg and headbutted another who tried to use the distraction to his advantage. As George leapt for more open ground, he was grabbed by the hind leg and pulled down with a grunt. The moment he hit the dirt, he was grabbed from seemingly all sides and held down forcefully. Growling, the great dane-saluki mix tried to throw them off, but there were too many even for him. They rolled him onto his back and he managed to see about 10 dogs biting him before he was hit hard across the face. Before he could recover, two of his attackers grabbed him by the ears with their teeth and yanked his head back forward so he was facing his attacker. He growled as he saw a spotted mix-breed of some kind with harsh eyes glaring back at him.

"Where is your pack?" he hissed.

"Who the hell are you?!" George snarled and the dog bit him hard on the shoulder, tearing slashes in it as he jerked his head back seconds later.

George growled in pain but found he still couldn't move.

"Where is your pack?!" he said again, only more loudly.

"Bite me!"

The dog hit him across the muzzle and then grabbed him by ear, forcing one of the other dogs off.

"Takeshi-san wants to know where your pack is." he said. "And you **will** tell me or I'll rip this ear clean off your head. You have three seconds. One. Two…"

George steeled his will and prepared himself for the pain, but suddenly, there was a rush and the dog went flying off him. Then the other dogs were being thrown backwards one by one and when he looked up, grimacing because of his wounded shoulder, he saw Ken standing over the spotted mix, who lay on his back with his throat torn out entirely. Ken glared down at the body.

"Get away from my brother." he said angrily and George felt a mixture of shock and happiness fill him as he overheard.

Looking up, he saw Kyoushiro and Kurotura as well, the former biting an attacker on the muzzle and the latter killing two at once with one slash of his teeth. By the time George got to his paws, they were all dead and he looked in surprise at the three of them.

"Why? What? Why did-?" he sputtered and Kurotura laughed.

"We'll see you back at the pack." he said and turned, nodding at Kyoushiro to follow him.

Once they were gone, George turned to Ken, who was looking at him with a combination of concern and guilt. Before he could say anything, Ken beat him to it.

"George, I..." he said, trailing off and then looking more determined. "I'm sorry about what I said to you. It's just this war. And that bastard Scimitar! I just…it brought up some bad memories and I lost myself a little. I'm sorry. I don't know what else to say."

George was too tired to be angry at him anymore and he smiled as he nudged his older brother's side gently with his head.

"You said enough." he responded and Ken returned the smile, both of them feeling a great weight lifting from them.

"Come on." Ken said, turning around. "Tesshin, Joe, and the others are waiting for us."

George followed him and the two males ran off through the trees, back to their pack and their mission, ready at last to put the past behind them and think of the future, and the troubles that lay ahead for them all.

**---**


	9. Confrontation

**Author's Note: **This chapter is from Jerome's POV. I'm really enjoying writing this (which is why I'm cranking these out so fast), but I'd like some feedback. Please review if you like it! Thank you!

**---**

Jerome crouched lower in the grass that grew in between the trees that shielded them. His breathing was steady, and he never took his eyes off the advancing dogs walking bunched together on the path below. There were roughly 50 of them, and they definitely weren't friendly. He and the rest of the pack had found out about them right after they had finished gathering comrades from the Kofu area, and now they were lying in wait watching them, not acting or moving until their leader made a decision. Jerome glanced left at Weed, who was crouched next to him and seemed to be either making up his mind or waiting for the right moment. On Weed's other side was Kagetora, who also was staring down at the dogs below noiselessly but seemed eager to get at them, which was typical both for his breed and his personality. Jerome leaned over to Weed slowly, being careful not to make any sudden movements that could give them away.

"What are your orders, leader?" he whispered in the akita's ear.

"Has anyone spotted Scimitar, Ronin, or Takeshi?" he whispered back.

"No." Kagetora answered softly. "Shigure can't confirm any of them from his position either."

"But he's sure that these dogs are part of their pack?" Weed asked, his voice almost inaudible.

Kagetora nodded and they all looked forward again. They had the group surrounded on all sides and were waiting for the go-ahead to attack. Weed looked around suspiciously.

"I don't like this." he said, still quiet. "This feels wrong. A warlord wouldn't be this careless and let his pack just be out in the open like this."

"It could be a trap." Jerome responded but Kagetora shot back:

"Or we're giving them too much credit. Look at their faces, they don't look nervous or on edge. They don't know we're here."

"So you think we should attack?" Weed asked.

"If we do then maybe we can draw one of the leaders out into the open." came the response and Jerome nodded slowly.

"I agree." he said and Weed looked back ahead.

The lead dog, a husky, was just passing them and the others followed him obediently, none of them seemingly suspecting of anything.

"All right, go! Go! Go!" Weed said suddenly and they all sprang out from their hiding places and charged down the hill.

On the other side, more dogs led by Shigure and Teru followed their lead and howled battle cries as they leapt and ran. The dogs below came to a dead stop and spun to face their attackers, caught completely off guard.

"It's the Ohu mutts!" one of them shouted. "Kill them! Kill them!"

But before any of them could react, Weed, Jerome, Kagetora and the others reached them with bone shattering force, tackling, biting and head-butting them hard as they collided. Jerome grabbed one dog by the neck and used him as a weapon against the others, flinging his body left and right and sending other dogs flying backwards. Kagetora slashed an attacker with his fangs in a move that would've made his father proud, and then dragged a second one to the ground before leaping aside. Weed rammed one of the dogs with his shoulder, then quickly kicked a second, slashed a third, and tackled a fourth in a series of almost graceful motions that made some of the other attackers around him hold back a little. Jerome used this to their advantage and took them out quickly, using his assassin training to kill or incapacitate 6 dogs before jumping back to survey his work. When he had, he looked around and noticed that virtually every enemy was dead or no longer a threat and the fighting was ceasing quickly. They had won. Raising his head, the Shepard looked around for any sign of more enemy troops, but heard nothing except the wind accompanied by an occasional whine of pain.

"Damn it." he heard Kagetora swear and looking over, saw a similar expression of dismay on Weed's face.

"Teru!" the leader called to the younger dog, who stood back where they had started on the hilltop. "Anyone?"

"No, leader!" came the answer. "All quiet!"

Weed looked irritated and glancing around, saw everyone else looking to him for instructions.

"Let's head back to base." he called and Jerome ordered some of the lower-ranking dogs to make sure that all of them were accounted for.

Then he trotted up to the front of the group and helped lead them out of the area, all of them on their guard. The next half an hour or so was uneventful, with no one talking much until they arrived back at their temporary hideout; in a large cave right on the border of the hilly area they had been in and a more mountainous region that was flanked by flatter lands that led back up north towards Ohu. When they all were there, Weed turned to them.

"Everyone rest." he said. "But be at the ready. We may have to move out quickly."

The dogs let out an almost simultaneous "Hai!" and then dispersed, with most of them laying down to rest their eyes. Jerome, meanwhile, followed Weed back into the cave, not needing the rest quite as badly. When they were in, he stretched a little and sat down, looking over at his friend as he did the same by the far wall. Jerome examined him silently. Weed had seemed more and more stressed in the days since the pack split up, and as his co-leader, Jerome had been watching him closely to ensure that he wasn't becoming overwhelmed. This normally would have been easy, but the Shepard had other things on his mind as well, and as he watched Weed, he silently wondered how Lydia was doing back at Gajou. In truth, on top of the immense pride he felt, Jerome was very nervous about becoming a father. Every time he looked back at his life and the things he had been, the friends he had failed, he wondered if it was a good idea for him to raise pups.

'After all.' he thought, 'Dogs who were once assassins don't usually do too well in a family. At least not in my experience.'

But then he remembered what Gin had told him, about having the same fears when Sakura had gotten pregnant, and how it meant he needed to be the great male he'd always been on a more consistent basis, for the sake of his pups. He'd been grateful for the former leader's words of encouragement, and now he wondered how nervous Weed was, or if he was even thinking about it at all at the moment. Suddenly, he saw Weed looking at him, his irritation apparently gone.

"What?" the young leader asked amusedly.

"Hmm?" Jerome grunted, snapping back to reality.

Weed laughed.

"You were staring at me, Jerome." he said. "Are you okay?"

"Oh, sorry." the Shepard responded sheepishly. "I'm fine. I was just thinking."

Weed stood and walked over to him. Then he lay down next to him.

"What about?" he asked curiously, biting lightly at an itch on his front leg.

"Just where we go from here, that's all."

Weed chuckled again and glanced at him almost playfully.

"Did you pick out any names yet?" he asked and Jerome's eyes went wide.

"How did-?" he started, but then stopped himself, realizing that his friend knew him too well.

He smiled, feeling a little embarrassed.

"Not yet." he admitted, lying down as well. "Lydia and I are still trying to work that one out."

"Yeah?" Weed teased. "Naming any after me?"

Jerome grunted in surprise and looked quickly at him, a little taken aback.

"I'm kidding!" Weed grinned, then laid his head on his paws. "That wouldn't be fair to the poor kid. I don't think he would appreciate GB's sense of humor."

Jerome laughed and leaned his head against the cave's rock wall.

"I think you would've had to meet GB to appreciate his sense of humor." he said. "What about you? Any names yet, leader?"

"I have a few in mind."

"And?"

"And you'll find out when everyone else does." Weed answered, his eyes closed.

Jerome snorted, looking away.

"Fine." he said. "But don't expect me to tell you anything then."

"Hey, look at me." Weed suddenly said in a calm voice and Jerome did just that after a pause. "You'll be a great father. Your pups will be lucky to have you as their dad."

Jerome was very touched and smiled at him gratefully.

Weed returned it and had just laid his head back down again when Shigure came rushing in.

"Leader," he said. "One of our scouts just reported seeing a large dog pack headed north towards Ohu. One of its lead dogs is definitely Ronin."

Weed stood up quickly.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes sir." Shigure answered.

"Any sign of Scimitar?"

"Not yet," came the response. "It doesn't look like he's with them."

Weed lowered his head a little and looked again like he was contemplating what to do. After a few seconds he raised it and looked around at the dogs that were there.

"All right," he said. "All of you, get ready to move out. Teru, I want you to head west. Find Tesshin and his group and bring them back here. Scimitar may be making a move to take Gajou."

Then he turned to Jerome as Teru nodded.

"Jerome," he said. "I want you and Shigure to lead most of our group up north to head off Ronin and his pack. Kagetora and I will stay here with a small group to see if we can track down Scimitar. Then we'll head north to join you."

"Weed, are you sure about this?" Jerome asked, unable to hide his concern.

"No." the akita said honestly. "But if he's not with them, then that means he's somewhere down here still. And if someone has to stay here then I want that to be me."

"Why?" Shigure chimed in and Weed turned to look at him.

"Because I don't trust Scimitar," he said. "And I won't send any of you to do something I'm not willing to do myself. Jerome's the best fighter here besides me, so he'll lead the fight to stop Ronin. Kagetora's the second best, so he'll stay with me because our group is smaller."

"Right! Let's go!" one of the soldier dogs barked and the others nodded or howled their approval.

Teru said good luck to all of them and then immediately took off running west, and a number of dogs watched him until he disappeared over a hilltop. Jerome called most of the soldiers they had over to him, including all of the ones they had spent the last week and a half gathering in this area of Japan, leaving Weed and Kagetora roughly ¼ of them left to aid them.

"Let's move out!" the Shepard called and they all turned and began running north, following Shigure as he ran out into the lead.

"Jerome!" he heard Weed call and he paused and looked back as he prepared to follow them.

Weed locked gazes with him and in a stern but kind voice said:

"Be careful. Ronin's good."

"I remember." Jerome said with a nod. "You be careful too leader."

Weed nodded back and then Jerome turned and ran after his group, never looking back. He used his powerful legs to catch up to Shigure and the others quickly and once he had, he shot out into the lead. Hopefully, they could catch Ronin off guard, he thought, and quickened the pace.

* * *

"All right, guys, spread out!" Weed said, "Travel in pairs and report back any signs you get."

The dogs that were there did what he said and fanned out in all directions, most disappearing from view in a matter of seconds. Then Weed turned to Kagetora.

"Come on, Kagetora." he said and nodded his head towards the southwest.

The Kai dog nodded and the two moved out through the trees, entering a more mountainous area a short time later. Weed sniffed the ground as Kagetora did the same a little ways behind him. Eventually, they ascended a steep slope and began using the height to survey the landscape and scent the wind, smelling for any sign of trouble.

"Anything?" Weed asked and Kagetora shook his head.

"Nothing." he answered, "But check that out. There's another cave up there."

Weed followed his gaze and nodded, saying "Let's take a look" as he turned and walked faster up the steep rocky slope. When he leapt up onto the ledge where the cave was, his senses immediately went wild and Weed put his guard up fast as he entered the cave cautiously. Once he was inside, he was disappointed. The cave was empty and relatively small, much smaller than the one they had been staying in. There was also no sign that anyone had stayed there in a while. Hearing Kagetora step up behind him, Weed turned around.

"It's empty." he said. "Let's go back and-"

Then he trailed off. It took a second or two for him to realize that the dog he was staring at and talking to was actually a wolf…a wolf with black fur. Behind him, Weed saw Kagetora on the ground, unresponsive and motionless, the breeze ruffling his tora-ge fur. Weed's breath caught in his throat and he met the wolf's gaze.

"Mind if I come in?" Scimitar asked in a triumphantly smug voice.

Then he head-butted the akita hard and before Weed could even make sense of what had just happened, his world went black.

* * *

Jerome panted as he ran, his tongue lolling out of the side of his mouth as he leapt around a large rock. His heard his pack following his every move and he hoped that they had gotten enough rest when they had stopped for a break a little while ago. After all, he had just caught the enemy pack's scent and it seemed they were close. It had taken them a few days to get back up to where they were now, and with the urgency of their mission they had only stopped to rest and sleep a few times, not enough to be at full strength but enough to at least be a force to be reckoned with.

Shigure ran at his right and Jerome heard the Kai dog panting almost in time with him, his shorter fur blowing back behind him as he moved. Jerome had heard nothing from Teru yet, but that was not surprising considering how far he had to go. He was surprised though, that Weed and Kagetora hadn't yet caught up to them with their group. He had been able to tell by Weed's voice when they'd parted that even he had been skeptical of actually finding Scimitar, and Jerome had assumed that they would have joined back up with them rather quickly. After all, he knew how much Weed wanted to punish Ronin. Either way, he couldn't worry about that now, he thought, they were coming up on them. The moment they crested the next hill, Jerome saw a dog lunging at his head. Reacting fast, he leapt aside, sensing Shigure doing the same in the other direction. The underling dog behind him though, wasn't so lucky and Jerome heard a crunch and a scream as Ronin leapt back, a jet of blood following him and an angry look on his face. Behind Ronin, he saw dozens of other dogs charging at them, howling and snarling as they ran.

"It's them!" Jerome yelled to his group. "All dogs engage them! Fight!"

The moment he finished, he saw movement to his left and dodged aside, hearing a set of jaws snap down where his neck had been moments before. When another attacker came in, Jerome head-butted him and then bit down on the neck of his comrade, who was right next to him. Feeling teeth tear into his flank, he ripped out the first dog's throat and then turned and drove his fangs hard into the other dog's forehead, causing him to release his grip and fall down dead as blood spurted out from his wounds. Then suddenly, someone hit him hard from the side, biting his neck and throwing him into the air, sending him crashing to the ground. Jerome rolled to his paws immediately, feeling blood streaming down his neck and shoulder from the deep slash marks now there, and faced the dog. Ronin glared back at him, seemingly just as angry as before.

"I thought I felt someone following us for awhile!" he growled. "That god damn fool lied to me!"

"Scimitar tell you you'd get no resistance, Ronin?" Jerome sneered, realizing who he must have been talking about. "Well he was wrong."

"Good!" Ronin answered, licking his chops and squaring off to him. "This just means I get to kill **you** before I get to Gajou. It's like a bonus."

"Don't count on it, bastard." Jerome growled back and Ronin lunged at him again.

He did the same and the two dogs met in mid-air in a flash of teeth and a chorus of snarls. Jerome dodged left and right as Ronin bit at him repeatedly, then countered with a slash of his own. The malamute dodged as well and before Jerome could jump aside, he felt pain in his chest and suddenly he was flying backwards through the air again. Landing with a grunt, he kicked out hard with his hind legs, remembering how Ronin fought, and heard a satisfying crack as he nailed the evil dog right in the lower jaw as he lunged for a finishing blow. Ronin landed in a heap as Jerome rolled to his paws again. When he jumped up angrily a second later, blood was streaming a little from his mouth. He gave Jerome a death glare.

"You'll pay for that one, motherfucker." he growled and started to advance on him again.

Before he could though, a howl rang out over the battlefield and both dogs looked towards its source. What Jerome saw made him gasp. Running full speed towards the fight was a small army of dogs, and at the front of them an older but very powerful looking tora-ge akita. It was Gin. Jerome smiled in amazement and saw Akame and Hiro both leap into the fight behind their leader, Rocket and Mel right on their tail. Jerome heard Ronin swear under his breath and looking over, saw him take off running away from the battle, moving towards the forest a couple hundred yards away to the west. He immediately leapt after him but the moment his paws touched the ground, he was knocked off them again by multiple enemies, attempting to protect their leader. Jerome began forcing them off him as he felt their teeth biting into him, using all his strength to counter his being outnumbered, but then Gin leapt in and knocked 3 aside with one hard blow, sending them sprawling. This allowed Jerome to stand again and together they fought off the rest near them, each working well off the other's attacks. Only minutes later, the fighting began to gradually cease and then it was over, the Ohu Army standing triumphant. Jerome looked around and saw Shigure, panting and sporting a few cuts, greeting Hiro as the latter walked up to him. Jerome then heard Gin turn to him.

"Are you all right, Jerome?" he asked and the Shepard nodded.

"Thank you, Gin." he said. "But what are you all doing here? I thought you were up in Hokkaido."

"We met Izou and his pack along the way." Gin answered, licking his lips. "They told us that they would go and get Suzaku and his pack in Hokkaido so we could come back down here to help you. But why are **you** here, Jerome? I thought you and Shigure were with Weed."

"We were." Jerome answered as Akame walked up. "But one of our scouts saw Ronin and his pack heading up this way and Weed ordered us to come head them off. Ronin just took off running that way."

He gestured with his head as he said it and Akame nodded.

"We saw." he answered, but Gin cut back in.

"So where is Weed?"

"He and Kagetora stayed behind where we were to look for Scimitar." Jerome said. "He wasn't with this group."

"And Teru went to go get Tesshin and his dogs." Shigure chimed in, striding up with Hiro, Rocket, and Mel at his side.

Gin nodded and looked back at Jerome.

"Kisaragi is at Ohu with some of the dogs we managed to gather." he said. "They're protecting it and also Lydia and Koyuki. So we should send a platoon after Ronin, and then head back down to help Weed and Kagetora. Scimitar's the one we need to kill to end this."

Jerome nodded.

"I agree." he said, still panting a little from the battle.

Gin noticed this and called for everyone to rest, an order that Jerome didn't have to be told twice to obey. He lay down on the spot and reaching with his tongue, licked the wounds in his shoulder and chest. Then he waited for Gin to give the order to go.

* * *

The scenery looked the same to Jerome as they entered the territory that he and his pack had departed from, but somehow something felt wrong to him. They had met up with Tesshin and his group only earlier that day in a happy exchange that had culminated in Gin enthusiastically greeting Joe, his voice clearly displaying his great relief that his older son was okay and in relatively good spirits. Kyoushiro seemed to be in a better mood as well from when they had parted, talking and laughing with Teru and the other junior ninja dogs about something he couldn't quite make out. Jerome himself had been talking to Rocket, who also had been interested to know about his plans for his pups' names. The Shepard had smiled but remained mum, and Rocket had understood and had not pushed the matter, instead moving on to other topics. They had stopped talking a minute ago, however, when the large group of them had reentered the area. They were happy knowing that they would all be completely reunited within minutes.

"Jerome," Gin asked. "Are you sure this is the right place?"

"Yes." Jerome answered. "They should be right up here."

But then, as he walked by a large bush, he heard the sound of birds overhead. Not just any birds though: crows. Jerome paused and looked towards the noise, and saw a large flock of the black scavengers circling an area only a few hundred yards ahead of them. He heard the other leaders stop with him and knew that they had noticed it too. At the edge of his vision, he saw Akame take another few steps forward.

"Something's wrong." he said uneasily and no one there disagreed.

Gin quickened the pace and the pack followed close behind as Jerome realized that the crows were right above their destination. Suddenly, he and Tesshin, who was on his other side, nearly walked right into Sasuke, who had come to a dead stop as he rounded a grove of trees.

"What is it, Sasu-" Jerome started to ask but then his voice died in his throat.

As soon as the rest of the pack reached them too, all talking ceased and an eerie silence fell over the group. The clearing that lay in front of them, which contained their cave base on its left, was littered with dead bodies, all of them dogs that had remained behind when Jerome and his group had left. Not daring to speak a word, Jerome stepped forward into the clearing, Gin and the other top dogs right behind him. Everywhere he looked, dead dogs' eyes stared up at him, their throats torn or their entrails spilling out. Horrified, he looked over at the cave…and saw a grayish-blue, striped mass lying motionless on the ground in its entrance.

"K-Kagetora?" he heard Kurotura say, his voice shaky and almost fragile sounding.

Then the Kai dog patriarch ran right at the cave, and Jerome followed him, sensing Gin and the rest of the group staying right with them. When they reached the form, Jerome gasped in horror. The body was indeed Kagetora's, and the numerous slashes and bite marks that covered him showed very clearly that he had been through hell. Unlike the others though, the young Kai dog was alive, and his side rose and fell very shallowly as he breathed, seemingly with difficulty.

"Kage?" Ken asked, sounding as shaken as Kurotura had been.

Before Jerome could turn to look at him though, his gaze fixed on another body that lay further back in the cave. When his eyes focused and he finally got a good look at it, Jerome felt his heart nearly stop. Lying in a pool of his own blood, his head split open and looking very dead…was Weed.

**---**


	10. Kagetora's Story

**Author's Note: **This was BY FAR the hardest chapter to write thus far, but I like how it came out. It's from Gin's POV, and it reveals some important things about a few characters. Hope you like it and please comment!

**---**

The world seemed to be muted. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Gin wondered why that was as he heard the cacophonous symphony of voices that erupted around him, all of them sounding like they were coming from another place, another time. No matter how much he wanted to, he couldn't break his weathered gaze away from his son's mangled form, and it was only the sound of Joe's voice, screaming his brother's name, that snapped him back to reality. Feeling fear gripping his throat, Gin leapt like a bullet over to Weed, seeing Jerome and Joe already ahead of him, both of them shouting his name frantically. His sudden entrance nudged them both roughly aside, though neither said a word to him as he looked down at the form below him.

"Weed!" he shouted, tears stinging his eyes. "WEED! Wake up! WAKE UP!"

Weed didn't stir and though he seemed to be breathing, it was very shallow, and like Kagetora, labored. Gin rolled his son onto his back and shook him with his paws.

"Weed, please wake up!" he begged as Akame came seemingly out of nowhere and pressed his ear to Weed's chest.

"He's alive." the Kishu said urgently. "But just barely."

Then he leapt aside and shouted loudly to the other dogs outside.

"All of you!" he yelled. "Find water and any medicinal herbs you can! GO!"

The dogs that were gathered all dispersed quickly in every direction, and then Akame came back as Gin saw Jerome gently lick the side of Weed's muzzle, Joe doing the same a few inches over.

"Come on, Weed!" the Shepard said, his voice frantic. "Don't do this to us! Wake up!"

Weed still was unresponsive and it was only then that Gin heard Kurotura calling Kagetora's name, his normally rough voice sounding every bit as frightened as Gin's was. Looking over, he saw his friend licking his son's cheek, trying to wake him up and failing as completely as they were. Ken bit Kagetora on the neck and shook him lightly, looking dismayed when the Kai dog still did not stir.

"If they're alive then why the hell aren't they waking up?" Kyoushiro asked fearfully and Akame glanced over at him, then went back to licking Weed's head wound.

"Kagetora is hurt badly, but he seems to be just unconscious," he said. "With some luck he should be awake soon. Weed's unconscious as well but his head wound is serious. I don't know if he even will wake up, let alone when."

"What can we do?" Gin cut in, trying to stay calm but not succeeding.

"We may have to take him to your old master, Gin." Akame said. "But right now we can't move him. All we can do is clean his wounds and keep him warm."

"And Kagetora?" George asked, looking worriedly over at the small group containing the stricken dog and his brother.

"The same." The ninja dog said. "But right now, we need to try and get him awake."

George nodded and Gin saw him move quickly back over to Kagetora. Trying not to appear scared, he leaned over and looked at Weed's head wound, which was where most of the blood on the ground beneath them seemed to have come from. Now, however, the bleeding had slowed and Akame had managed to lick most of the excess blood away. What he saw made him even more frightened. Looking closely, he could see a tiny part of Weed's skull underneath the matted fur and blackish-red flesh. The wound was big, and the jagged look of it made Gin almost positive that his son's head had been forcibly smashed into something hard like a rock. This suspicion was confirmed when Tesshin spoke up from his right.

"There's a lot of blood on this part of the wall that's jutting out." he said. "I think Weed must have hit his head here."

"Or Scimitar hit it there for him." Jerome growled, clearly angry.

"Are we sure it's Scimitar who did it?" Sasuke asked, trying to contribute something to the talk.

"Sniff the ground." Tesshin responded. "You'll smell a wolf's scent."

Sasuke did just that and was shocked when he discovered that the ninja dog was right.

"But how did he get close enough to attack them?" he asked.

"Better question:" Joe cut in, looking around the cave at the blood-spattered walls. "Why didn't they fight back? All this blood is theirs."

"Why don't we ask them?" Rocket said and they all looked at him in confusion. "Look."

When they followed the Borzoi's gaze, Gin drew in a quick breath. Kagetora was stirring, and those that weren't already there quickly went over and began helping lick his wounds as he did.

"Come on, Kage!" Ken said urgently, nudging him, and Akame quickly went over and monitored the situation.

Much as he hated to leave Weed, Gin managed to tear himself away from him long enough to join the group as well, and he arrived just as Kagetora let out a ragged groan and spit some blood out of his muzzle. Then his eyes opened a little bit and he groaned again.

"Uuuuunnnnnnhhhh…" he said. "Wh-What's…Weed…"

Suddenly, his eyes shot open and he lifted himself up fast, startling a few of them.

"Weed!" he shouted, then nearly collapsed again, but the group of them caught him and lowered him down again gently.

"Easy! Easy…" Akame said kindly. "You're hurt pretty badly Kagetora, I'm amazed you're awake so soon. Apparently you're as durable and stubborn as your father."

Kurotura, who normally would've laughed at this, pretended like he hadn't heard and put his front leg over his son's side to help hold him down. Kagetora, for his part, did not try to move again and just panted in pain as he lay on the ground.

"Kagetora," Gin said sternly, feeling alternately furious and afraid at the situation. "What the hell happened here?"

Kagetora looked up at him slowly.

"Sc…Scimitar." he said and a few of the lower ranking dogs who were listening in from outside gasped. "I never even saw him. I was following Weed up to explore a-another cave and…and the minute my feet hit the ground it all went dark."

"And?" Gin pressed, not having time to coddle him despite his sympathy and concern.

Kagetora looked back at the cave floor, the expression on his muzzle looking almost like shame.

"He used me." he said. "That sick son of a bitch used me to make Weed cooperate."

"Tell us everything." Akame said as Shigure rested a paw comfortingly on his cousin's flank.

Kagetora nodded slowly, pushing himself up just enough to lean against Ken for support and not re-collapse.

"We never had a chance…" he started.

_***_

_ Kagetora felt pain pulsing in his head as his eyes opened slowly. He had been just behind Weed and about to follow him into the cave when something had hit him hard from behind and everything had gone black. Now he had no idea how much time had passed or what exactly had happened, and his own carelessness made him angry. Growling under his breath as his vision focused gradually, he pushed himself to his paws. The minute he had, he was grabbed hard from seemingly all sides and held in place, and then his feet were knocked back out from under him and he hit the ground with an unceremonious 'THUD'. Looking up, he found himself eye to eye with a black furred wolf, who was grinning toothily and looked genuinely excited that the Kai dog was awake, though not in a good way. Kagetora grunted in shock, remembering Lydia's story and realizing instantly who it was. Scimitar leaned down and tilted his head so that Kagetora was looking him right in the eye. _

_ "Well look who's up." he taunted and the Kai dog growled loudly._

_ "Where's Weed you bastard?"_

_ "Right in front of you if you'd care to use your eyes." came the response and Kagetora looked and saw Weed lying motionless on the ground only a few feet away._

_ He gasped and glared at Scimitar._

_ "What did you do?!" he demanded angrily and the wolf snorted. _

_ "He's just unconscious." he said, looking down at Weed with an oddly interested expression. "In fact, he should be coming around soon. I must say though, I'm glad you woke up first."_

_ "Why is that?" Kagetora asked darkly, trying to get a good look at the numerous dogs that were holding him immobile. _

_ Scimitar came right up to him and smirked, making sure he saw it. _

_ "Because it will make things much easier." he said. "And because I can't wait to see the look on your face. It'll be so much fun." _

_ "Let's see how much fun you're having when I get up and rip your balls off!" Kagetora growled. "Unless your scared to fight like a real male."_

_ Scimitar seemed to ignore him and walked over to Weed, stroking one of his paws across the akita's throat, as if he were itching to slit it. Then he looked back at Kagetora and smiled. _

_ "What do you think?" he asked. "Should I wake him up?"_

_ Kagetora refused to answer and Scimitar snorted derisively. _

_ "I'll take that as a 'yes'." he said malevolently and smacked Weed with his paw in the muzzle._

_***_

He paused as the others absorbed all that he'd said so far and Gin met his gaze solemnly.

"Was he alone?" he asked, hearing Jerome and Joe tending to Weed behind him and wanting to join them.

"No." Kagetora answered. "He had about 15-20 dogs with him. I had about 6 or 7 holding me down. The others were mostly outside."

"You couldn't throw them off?" Kyoushiro asked in a slightly harsher voice than he'd meant.

"Yes," Kagetora said, irritated. "I probably could've. But that bastard came prepared."

_***_

_ Weed stirred almost immediately after he was hit and Kagetora looked concernedly at him, wondering if it even made sense to shout a warning when Scimitar was already so close. He saw Weed shake his head to clear it and then look over at him and he tried to throw off his restrainers, but found that he was still immobile. _

_ "Kagetora?!" Weed asked urgently, seeing his situation._

_ Before he could warn him though, Scimitar jumped on his back from behind and pinned him to the ground on his underside. Weed grunted in surprise as the wolf grabbed the side of his neck in his teeth. Scimitar laughed and bit harder._

_ "Hello, 'Soudaishou'." he said sarcastically, "Nice of you to join us."_

_ "Scimitar..." Weed growled, recognizing him instantly just as Kagetora had. "If you think we're going to let you toy with us then you are massively underestimating the soldiers of Ohu." _

_ "Oh, I'm not underestimating anyone." Scimitar responded. "Why do think I came here personally? And then ambushed you? I'm not fool enough to take dogs with your reputation lightly."_

_ "Why did you bring us here?" Weed demanded. "I know you know I'm not going to let you live after what you've done." _

_ "Well," came the response. "Seeing as we're the leaders of two opposing sides in a war, it seemed to me like we should meet face to face. Reputations only say so much. You have to look your enemy in the eye to really know him. And since unlike you dogs, I don't much prefer the ass-sniffing technique, here we are."_

_ Weed suddenly pushed off from the ground with all four legs and threw Scimitar off, but the wolf was prepared and landed cleanly next to Kagetora and the dogs holding him. _

_ "Now, now." the wolf taunted. "None of that from you. You're going to be on your best behavior."_

_ "Sure of that are you?" Weed growled, baring his teeth at the warlord._

_ "Oh, I'm positive." Scimitar said in a truly evil voice and nodded behind him at someone. _

_ Kagetora saw Weed's eyes widen and craning his neck as best he could, he saw another of Scimitar's followers holding a small puppy in his teeth. It was a young dalmation, and it whined and squirmed in protest as the older dog held it immobile by the scruff of the neck with his teeth. Kagetora felt his breath catch in his throat and he looked at Scimitar in disgust. _

_ "That pup's just a kid!" he snarled furiously. "Leave him out of this!" _

_ "No." the wolf said bluntly. "He's what's going to ensure that you two don't misbehave. I don't want to have to kill you before I've had my fun."_

_ "You wouldn't dare!" Weed said, looking as if the concept of someone willing hurting a pup was something he couldn't comprehend._

_ "Like I said," Scimitar responded with a grin. "'All's fair in love and war'. And if this pup's death doesn't bother you, I can always kill dear Kagetora here instead. It wouldn't be my first choice, but we can't always get what we want I guess. You really want to test me and find out?"_

_ Weed glared angrily at him, but then looked at the puppy and backed down. _

_ "Get on with it you monster." he said._

_ "Why thank you." Scimitar said mock-sweetly, then turned and ran a claw down the yelping pup's back lightly. "I do love pups. My troops found this one lost in the woods nearby. Speaking of which, a little bird told me that you're about to be infested with them yourself. You and that Shepard friend of yours."_

_ Weed stopped dead, looking shocked. _

_ "You- "_

_ "Did you pick out any names yet?" he asked with a lick of his lips and Weed glared at him._

_ "Shut up…" he warned._

_ "Naming any after me?" Scimitar taunted, not breaking eye contact or his triumphant grin._

_ Kagetora suddenly realized in horror that Scimitar must have been spying on them since they arrived in this place and had overheard the conversation Weed had had with Jerome. Weed obviously had worked it out too, and Kagetora saw him shaking in fury, looking as if it were taking all his willpower not to attack the warlord on the spot. _

_ "Why are you doing this?" Weed asked in a furious voice. _

_ "Why?" Scimitar said, walking up to him. "This is why."_

_ Then he suddenly hit him across the muzzle as hard as he could, and Kagetora shouted Weed's name in fear as he flew back into a wall and landed on his back. Then Scimitar grabbed him in his jaws and threw him into the other wall. When Weed landed, the wolf took him by the hind leg and began repeatedly slamming him on the hard floor of the cave, making blood go flying as he was cut by the rocks that formed it. Finally, when Weed was stunned enough for him, Scimitar jumped on him and pinned him by the shoulders on his back. He glared down at the akita, no longer grinning or taunting. _

"_You want to know what this is about?" he said, this time looking deadly serious. "You want to know why? Let me tell you a story then. Once there was a wolf named Scimitar, and he ruled over the entire eastern coast of Russia. He was able to do this because he didn't care about __**anything**__ others did. He just played his little games and watched his fellow dogs and wolves run around angrily like little ants as he killed off groups of them at a time for fun. No one could so much as touch him, so he pressed outward, hoping he could find more of you noisy __**things**__ to torment. But then he met two that were a genuine challenge. The German Shepard war dog Ivan and his idealistic, pathetically righteous son. His name was Maxime."_

_Weed inhaled sharply at those words, recognizing the second name instantly as his pack's onetime friend and ally. Scimitar, however, appeared not to notice or didn't care. He moved his paw to Weed's throat and began putting pressure on it, making it difficult for him to breathe. Then he kept talking._

"_And so a war ensued," he said, "And it was long, and it was violent, and it was bloody…and it was __**tons**__ of fun. But Ivan was no fool, and I while I reveled in his pack's pain he came up with a plan. Before our final battle, a fight he knew he would lose, he broke into an abandoned human building where they used to take dogs to experiment on them. Inside, he found all kinds of poisons the humans had left behind and he drank them. They got into his blood and so when I killed him and ripped him apart piece by piece, his blood got into my system and so did the poisons. I only found out when he told me about it with his dying breath, clever little bastard that he was. They seem to be very slow acting because I'm still alive and kicking, but who knows how long that will last. Either way, kid, I'm dying."_

_He leaned in closer and whispered in Weed's ear loudly enough for Kagetora to still hear him._

"_What he did was only possible because Maxime helped him build an army with the strength to challenge me." he said. "That, in turn, was only possible because __**you**__ and your brood let him live to return to Russia. That makes it __**your**__ fault that I'm now rotting away from the inside out. So you ask me why I'm doing this. I'm doing this to return the favor."_

"_H-How…di-did you?" Weed choked, looking alternately shocked and angry._

"_How did I know about your pack and Maxime?" Scimitar asked with a grin. "Because he wasted no time upon his return spouting your sad philosophy, trying to make other dogs better."_

_He said this last word with such venom that Kagetora saw his spit hit Weed in the face. He didn't have time to yell in anger though, as the wolf was already talking again. _

"_This world has tried to thwart me since day one, and the fact that I've been able to return the suffering and hear its screams just makes me smile." he said. "So if I'm gonna die…I'm taking you __**all**__ down with me when I do. I'm going to kill every…last…dog in this pitiful land of yours for this. To put that in motion, though, I have to go through you. So that's what I'm going to do. And when you and your pack are dead and gone, I'll get what I want, and all will be right with the world. But for right now, I'm going to let you live, because I want to see what you'll do. Because I don't need to rule your precious paradise, and I don't need to fight you just to prove my strength. You've never dealt with anyone like me before and __**that**__ scares you. Consider this my last little game, and every one of you is expendable, your dogs…and mine. I only sent Ronin up north to Gajou to distract your friends. By the time this is over, he'll be dead right alongside you. By the time this is over...there won't be anyone left to have the scars to remind them of it. And then I'll have…peace."_

_ The look in Scimitar's eyes as he said this made Kagetora gape in speechless horror. He was insane, the Kai dog decided, but not a normal insane. This guy was cunning and the skill to back up his threats. _

_ 'Lydia was right.' he thought. 'This bastard is scary as hell.'_

_ Scimitar was looking down at Weed again though, and Kagetora listened in. _

_ "Speaking of scars," he said, looking the akita over. "It doesn't look like __**you**__ have a single scar on you. You must be the only one in your pack that doesn't."_

_ "All having scars proves is that you were too slow to dodge." Weed hissed defiantly and Scimitar laughed. _

_ "I bet your friends would be thrilled to hear __**that**__ theory." he sneered. "Either way, I've got some bad news for you, 'leader'."_

_ Then he leaned in close._

_ "__**I'm**__ not slow at all." he whispered menacingly._

_Then he stood again and looked at him with a horrible longing in his eyes._

"_Let's scar you, boy." Scimitar said._

_Before Weed could say anything more, Scimitar grabbed him by the hind leg again and this time swung him sideways at the wall. Kagetora could do nothing but watch as his friend's head connected hard with a jagged, jutting-out rock, and a loud crack was heard as blood flew everywhere. Weed let out a small gasp, then fell to the ground, and was still. Scimitar smirked again and then turned back to his troops. _

"_Hurt him." he said, referring to Kagetora. "And kill the kid. I'll be around if I'm needed."_

_Then he walked out and Kagetora could only scream after him, trying vainly to provoke him and get the subordinates to let him up. They didn't however, and when he felt their teeth tear into him, he passed out completely and permanently only seconds later._

_***_

As Kagetora stopped talking, the group just stared at him for a minute, none of them saying a word. Gin was aghast at what had taken place in the cave, and glancing around, he could tell that the others were equally as sickened by what they had heard as he was. Even Akame looked shaken by Kagetora's story, and it was a while before anyone said anything. When they did, it was Rocket who spoke.

"I've learned a lot from Weed about kindness." he said quietly. "And I've tried to follow his example and give dogs second chances, even those that might seem at first not to deserve them...but this guy is different. He's not just a threat to us; he's a threat to every dog in Japan. We have to kill him, even if he's dying already."

"I agree." Jerome said determinedly from behind them and when Gin turned, he saw the Shepard still sitting near Weed protectively. "But it's going to take all of us to end this. We need to care for Weed and Kagetora and get them back to full health before we make a move on Scimitar."

"And what happens if he doesn't wait that long to make a move?" George asked, sounding more frustrated than scathing. "What then?"

"We'll have to hope that he doesn't," Gin said and they all looked at him. "And that Weed and Kagetora will recover quickly, because none of us are going anywhere alone anymore. From now on, we stick together as a group and don't split up unless we have to."

The dogs all nodded, many of them more subdued than they had been minutes before. Kyoushiro, however, was not one of them.

"Why the hell did he screw around at first?" he asked in an angry tone. "If his goal is revenge, why not just attack us and get it over with?"

"Because he's arrogant." Akame said, "He wanted to draw it out and make us suffer as much as he possibly could. Besides, attacking an opponent directly is one thing. He may have thought it would affect us more if he hurt innocent dogs instead of dealing with us head on."

"Whatever it was, he's already put his plan in motion." Gin said in a slightly sharper tone that was more directed at Kyoushiro than Akame. "And we're going to need a plan of our own before we fight him, because if we get killed, no one's gonna be able to stop him. We're going to have to spend the night here and talk about it, just the high-ranking dogs. The rest will help care for Weed and Kagetora."

Then he turned to them, a determined look on his muzzle.

"Let's go." he said.

They all nodded in agreement and everyone jumped to action. The dogs that had been sent to find medicinal plants were just returning, and Akame took their cargo from them as the ones that had found water described the location of both a river and a healing spring close by. When they had, Ken and Kurotura carried Kagetora off to both, as Gin ordered most of the subordinate soldiers to gather together and rest. Meanwhile, as the sun began to set and darkness descended, he and Akame gathered the high-ranking dogs together as three Koga ninja dogs tended to Weed. As guards patrolled the entrance at all times, they sat in a circle at the back of the cave. When everyone was quiet, Gin spoke.

"Between the three groups we split up into," he said, "We should have enough soldiers to take on Scimitar and his armies, especially when Izou, Suzaku, and their group get here. But eventually we're going to have to fight them, and when that happens, three of us are going to have to fight their three tops. That's one of the things we need to decide right now."

He turned to Akame, sounding as if he were struggling to contain his worry.

"How is Weed?" he asked.

"Not good." the ninja dog answered. "Kagetora should be back to full strength in a few days, but Weed is seriously hurt. Not even the healing spring will help that head wound. He needs human help or he may die."

"What about your old owner, Gin-san?" George asked.

"He could help, yes." Gin answered, "But he's a long way from here. Weed may not last that long."

"I'll take him." Rocket said suddenly and they all looked at him.

"We can't spare anyone to help protect you, Rocket." Akame said seriously. "If you get attacked, you'll be alone."

"I've lived my whole life in the wild, it'll be nothing new." the Borzoi answered, and then smirked. "Besides, I'm the fastest one here by far. I can get him there in time."

Gin nodded.

"I entrust you." he said. "But what about the battles?"

"I'll deal with Ronin." Jerome spoke up. "I have a feeling he wants payback after our last fight."

"Can you handle him alone?"

Jerome suddenly glared at him intensely, and for a moment, Gin could've sworn he was looking at his long dead best friend, John.

"I know he's dangerous." Jerome said. "But so am I. I promise you I can handle him."

Gin held his gaze and the two males nodded almost in unison, displaying their silent agreement. Then Tesshin's voice broke the quiet.

"Takeshi is mine." he said and all heads swiveled in his direction. "He'll only fight me anyway and I…I have some unfinished business to settle with him."

Gin acknowledged him as well and inclined his head sternly.

"I don't have to tell you to be careful with him." he said. "He's probably the third most talented ninja dog in Japan."

"And I'm the second." Tesshin shot back. "I'm not letting him get away with what he's done."

"But what about Scimitar?" Kyoushiro asked suddenly and a hush fell over the group.

Then Gin suddenly spoke, and he sounded both somber and enraged.

"I'll handle Scimitar." he said. "With…With Weed out of commission, that makes him my responsibility."

"Gin…" Akame said, and he sounded both worried and apologetic. "This guy was good enough to kill Musashi and Jaguar, and nearly kill both Weed and Kagetora, all almost single-handedly from what we've heard. He may be good enough even for you. Are you sure you can-"

"No one kills my comrades." Gin said in a deadly voice.** "**No one kills my friends, and **no one**…hurts my son."

Akame looked a little cowed at his friend's response, but also very proud, and he nodded in agreement emphatically.

"Yes, leader." he said with a smile and Gin looked back at the group.

"I'm not leader anymore." he responded with a small smile. "So if Weed returns, I'll relinquish the fight to him."

"Or me." came a previously unheard voice and they all turned to see Joe striding up. "I may not have fought as many wars as you, father, but I'm more than capable of dealing with this bastard."

Gin smiled and looked equally as proud of his older son as Akame had been of him. Then he looked around at the group, all of whom were looking to him expectantly.

"Everyone go rest." he said. "I have a feeling we're all going to need it."

They all bowed their heads simultaneously and then dispersed, most walking over to Weed to check on his status. Gin looked at each of them one at a time, his friends, his pack. He hoped more than anything that they could all weather this, that Weed would recover fully and they could all live peacefully in their paradise once more, as he'd always wanted. Seeing the darkness of the night around him now complete, he walked silently over to Weed, who's head was resting on Jerome's back, and who's body was now being almost cradled by the bodies of his friends and brother. Then the old warrior lay down with them, and rested his head on the side of his son's neck.

'One last time.' he thought, thinking of the war still ahead. 'One last time…"

**---**


	11. The Calm Before The Storm

**Author's Note: **This chapter's a little jumpy, but I think it turned out pretty well. Also, the action will begin to pick up after this. Please review!

**---**

Rocket panted as he ran, his breath coming out as thin, white puffs of steam as the air got colder around him. He wasn't worried about it affecting him, though, as he had an unusually thick layer of fur that kept his skinny frame warm in the winter, but he **was** concerned about its effect on his passenger. Weed lay slumped over his back, his eyes clenched shut tightly, with only the slightest hint of pain etched into his features, despite the grave injury to his head.

'That wound is bad enough.' Rocket thought. 'The last thing he needs right now is to get sick from the cold.'

He was beginning to enter the mountains now, having only left the pack and the cave a few hours ago, and snow was beginning to appear in patches on the ground, making the Borzoi have to slow his pace occasionally for fear of hitting ice. The rest of the pack had left as well, headed back north towards Gajou, from which they could launch a counter-attack against Scimitar, Ronin, Takeshi, and their forces. He hoped that they wouldn't encounter any more trouble along the way, a hope he was also reserving for himself and Weed. Leaping over a narrow gulch, Rocket shifted Weed's position on his back as he landed, making it more comfortable for him, and more secure as well. The Akita had gotten heavier since the last time he had carried him, he noted, and now it was more difficult than he had thought to move at his normal top speed. Still, he would not slow down, he told himself. His leader and friend needed him and he would not let a little fatigue cause him to fail, not after Gin entrusted him with this task.

At the pace he was going, it would take him at least until tomorrow before he could reach Gin's old master's home. He remembered where it was from when Ken, GB, and Sasuke had once taken Jerome there in a similar attempt to save his life after the Shepard had nearly been killed in a river while saving Weed during the war against Hougen. GB had told the pack later where it was in case a similar emergency ever developed in the future; like the one they had now.

'Was that really 3 years ago?' Rocket thought. 'I **am** getting old.'

He shook the thoughts from his head and ran harder, dirt and snow being kicked up in his wake.

'I'm going to get there.' Rocket swore to himself. 'I don't care if it kills me.'

He glanced over his shoulder at the unconscious dog riding him.

"Hang on, Weed." he said. "Hang in there."

* * *

Jerome trotted to a halt as Gin did, the rest of the pack following suit behind them. They had been moving at a very rapid pace for quite some time, and he heard some of the dogs breathing hard as they attempted to catch their breath from the effort. They were just under halfway back to Gajou and night was beginning to fall, so Gin and Akame had decided to let the pack rest one final time before they tried to make it the rest of the way back home in one go. To his right, Jerome saw Hiro panting in near exhaustion, Kyoushiro, Ken, and George standing next to him, looking at him with an almost playful disdain.

"See," Kyoushiro said in a teasing voice. "**That's** why you shouldn't have retired, Hiro. You're out of shape."

"Yeah?" the Great Pyrenees answered in his deep voice. "Maybe you'd like to carry me then, you little twig."

Ken and George laughed but then Akame looked over at them.

"Enough." he said sternly. "Everyone rest while you can. We move out in a couple of hours."

Jerome was in no frame of mind to rest, but he padded back towards the rest of them anyway, intending to at least lay down with them. He lay down next to Kagetora on the edge of the group, resting his head on his paws and watching their banter silently. Then he glanced at the Kai dog and frowned slightly. Kagetora seemed to be staring off into space, an almost angry expression on his face, one paw absentmindedly stroking part of his front leg where a wound had been.

"Kagetora." Jerome said, but was not answered. "Kagetora!"

The other dog jumped slightly and looked at him with a slightly irritated expression.

"What?" he asked. "What is it?"

"Are you okay? You were – "

"Fine! I'm fine!" came the answer and Jerome laid his head back down.

"Is 'fine' Kai dog slang for 'not fine at all'?" he asked and Kagetora growled slightly.

"Screw you."

"Come on, Kagetora," Jerome said. "I know I'm not Weed or Ken, but you can talk to me."

"Oh yeah?" Kagetora said bitterly. "You know, Jerome, if I were you I wouldn't delve too deeply into what I'm thinking right now. It should be hard enough already for the rest of you that I can't even be trusted to protect my own leader and friend without having to listen to me talk my shit on top of it."

Then the Kai dog stood up abruptly and walked away, leaving Jerome staring after him in concern. When he stood as well to go after him though, someone stepped in front of him. Jerome looked and saw Akame.

"Wait, Jerome." the Kishu said. "I'll talk to him."

And without waiting for a response, he turned and followed Kagetora into the burgeoning darkness. Jerome stared after him for a moment, then turned back to where he had been. The moment he did, something else caught his eye. Standing alone at the edge of the tree line, the dim light making him a silhouette as he stared out over the ledge they were currently following, was Tesshin. The Shepard recognized both the ninja dog's Mohawk and his scent, and he heard the voices of his comrades fade slightly as he walked over to join him. Tesshin glanced over at him as he sat down, then turned back to the scenery as Jerome turned to look at him.

"Do you need something, Jerome?" Tesshin asked in a calm voice that contained only a slight trace of the same irritation Kagetora had had at first.

"Well, I'm 0 for 1 in helping friends tonight who look like they need to talk." the Shepard said. "I figured I might as well make it a perfect score."

Tesshin smirked.

"So I'm number 2, huh?" he said. "Good luck with that."

Jerome smiled slightly and looked up at the sky, wondering how Weed was doing on his own journey north. Then something else came back into his mind and the smile faded from his muzzle. It was the same worry that he'd had ever since he'd committed to fighting Ronin only a day or so before. Tesshin didn't miss a beat.

"Are you worried about the fight?" he asked and Jerome looked down at the ground.

"Yes." he admitted and the ninja dog looked at him again.

"You're a great fighter, Jerome." he said. "You can beat him."

"It's not beating him that worries me." Jerome said. "It's what I'll have to do to do it."

Tesshin frowned, looking confused and Jerome turned and met his gaze.

"You didn't know me when I was an assassin, Tesshin." the Shepard said. "I was a cold, violent dog with no regard for anything but my mission and my duty. The only thing that changed me was Weed. Meeting him was the greatest thing that ever happened to me because it led me to all of this. A new pack, a new purpose…a new family. I'm going to be a father soon. I'm worried that the only way to defeat Ronin permanently will be to become the dog I used to be. That's something I never want my pups to see."

Tesshin stared at him for a moment, taking this all in. Then he rested a paw on Jerome's shoulder.

"We've all done things we're not proud of." he said. "But it's the other things you've done that show what kind of dog you are. You and I know better than most the things we're forced to sometimes do to protect our pack and our land. And I know that you're a great enough male that you'll be able to hold onto who you are, not what you used to be. If you sense yourself slipping, just think of your pups. That alone should keep you grounded."

Jerome was both grateful and taken aback by Tesshin's words and he nodded at the ninja dog gratefully. When Tesshin nodded back, Jerome stood.

"I think I'm going to rest after all." he said, "But can I give you some advice as well, Tesshin?"

"Of course."

Jerome looked him in the eye.

"If anyone has a reason to hate Takeshi, it's you." he said and Tesshin tensed immediately at the name. "And I won't presume to tell you what to do in your battle when the time comes. But whatever happens, however you choose to defeat him, don't let your hatred for him turn you into what he is. You're too great a male for that."

Tesshin didn't say anything and turned back towards the ledge. Jerome walked a few feet away and then stopped.

"Defeat him, Tesshin." he said. "Don't become him."

Then he continued on back to the pack, leaving Tesshin the ninja dog alone with his thoughts, staring into the dark.

* * *

Daisuke was beginning to get frustrated. There was just no way to do it. He was currently in a large building right next to the hospital where Hidetoshi worked that had been used for years as a gym. A few feet away, he heard the customary 'THUNK' of an arrow hitting a block of wood as Hidetoshi practiced with a bow and arrow, the same bow and arrow that Daisuke had once used himself when he was a boy. Daisuke wasn't paying attention to him, however, because he was busy poring over reports from hunters, hoping that he would find one that had seen Gin and his pack in or around Futago Pass when the Oroshi disaster had occurred. But unfortunately, he was having no such luck. People just didn't notice stray dogs anymore these days, even ones that had once saved the people of the town. He threw the papers down on the ground in disgust as he heard another 'THUNK' and Hidetoshi swore. Leaning back in the chair he was in and resting his head against the wood and concrete wall, Daisuke saw that his friend had missed the block of wood entirely and stuck an arrow in the wall paneling.

"How's the practicing going?" he asked, not having the heart to smirk when Hidetoshi glowered at him.

"Apparently I'm not as strong as I used to be." Hidetoshi answered. "Old age and all that. Although it sounds like I was having more fun than you judging by those noises you were making."

"I just can't figure out a way to clear Gin and his pack." he said, closing his eyes and putting his hands behind his head. "Nobody has seen them that can vouch for them. Or nobody cares."

"Well what did you expect?" Hidetoshi asked, picking up his things and walking to the door that Daisuke sat by.

"More than this." the younger man said and standing followed him out, letting the door close behind him.

Once they were out, they turned a corner onto the town's main street and headed for the outskirts, where Daisuke and his family lived in the Hotel Fujiwara, and where the two were planning on having dinner with Daisuke's family that night.

"I did find one thing though," Daisuke said, throwing his coat over his shoulder. "A number of hunters just a little to the south of Futago Pass have reported seeing a black wolf wandering around…"

"So? There are wolves all over the place –"

"…leading a large pack of dogs." Daisuke finished and Hidetoshi looked at him with a frown.

"That **is** odd." he admitted. "But it proves nothing."

"Oh come on." Daisuke pressed. "It's at least worth looking into right? I mean, how many wolves that you know lead packs of **dogs**?"

"You do what you want, Daisuke," Hidetoshi answered as they approached the Hotel Fujiwara, which was in the off-season and looked empty. "But I'm not going to –"

Suddenly, Daisuke looked ahead and froze. Then he grabbed Hidetoshi's arm hard.

"What?" the doctor asked. "What?"

"Look." Daisuke answered and pointed forward.

Standing on his home's raised porch, pawing at the front door and occasionally whining, was a large orange dog that Daisuke recognized immediately as one of Gin's pack mates. Lying on the ground next to him was another dog that looked either dead or close to it. It also looked very familiar.

"Oh no." he said and sprinted at the porch.

The orange dog, a Borzoi, saw him coming and moved aside to let the two humans get access to his stricken companion, and began barking at them urgently when they had. Daisuke looked at the dog carefully and then glanced up at Hidetoshi.

"This is Gin's son." he said.

"I remember." came the answer. "I healed him before. He's in a bad way, though."

"This isn't a gunshot wound on his head."

"No, it looks like he hit it on something hard." Hidetoshi answered, running a hand over the wound.

"We've gotta help him, Sensei." Daisuke said quickly and the other human nodded.

"Take him inside," he said, "I'll run back and get my medical kit."

Daisuke slipped his hands underneath the limp bluish-grey form and picked it up gingerly. Then, while his partner sprinted back towards the hospital they had just come from, he carried the dog inside and shut the door behind him.

* * *

Ronin snorted and looked away as he leaned against the tree, seething as he flexed his jaw back and forth. It still ached from his fight with that damn Shepard friend of Weed's a few days ago and he was itching for some payback. He didn't care when he got it or how, but he wanted it, at any cost. At this point, he wanted to kill Jerome almost more than anyone, especially now that Weed was about to be…well…taken care of. He smirked to himself proudly. He had gotten sick of waiting for Scimitar to take action against Ohu, and had been positively livid when he had found out that not only had he been used as bait without his knowledge, but that the wolf had had Weed in his grasp and had let him live. Let him **live**. He took some comfort in knowing that Scimitar had supposedly thrashed the Ohu leader half to death, but letting him go had been unforgivable…so he had done something about it.

He had secretly, without the knowledge of either Scimitar or Takeshi, sent an assassin, one he had gone to in the past, to kill Weed after one of his scouts had seen the injured dog being carried to a human village by one of his packmates. When the assassin's job was done, he was to come back and report directly to Ronin himself to confirm it, and then Ronin could concentrate on the other dogs of Ohu that were still left. He looked over as Scimitar finished saying something to the group that was gathered around him. He couldn't hear what it was, nor did he really care, and he glanced over at Takeshi as the ninja dog stalked away through the trees silently away from them all, probably towards a group of his own. All he knew was that they were in one of Ohu's neighboring territories and were about to go do some killing. That's what he cared about. Ronin stretched his neck and looked over at Scimitar again, but the wolf was gone. Wrinkling his nose in confusion, the malamute turned to saunter off, and nearly walked right into the black wolf, who now stood right in front of him with an unreadable look on his face.

"What?" Ronin asked in a deliberately challenging tone.

"Follow me, Ronin." Scimitar said in a low voice. "I need to discuss something with you."

Ronin snorted again and followed him after a pause, wondering what pointless task the wolf wanted him to do now. They stopped after only about 20 feet. Then Scimitar turned to face him.

"I have a question for you, Ronin." he said, his eyes suddenly piercing. "And do your best to answer truthfully."

"Yeah? What's that?"

"Do you **want** me to kill you?"

Ronin froze.

"What did you say?"

"Do you. Want me. To KILL you?" Scimitar said slower, but in a voice dripping with barely contained fury. "Because if you do, then you're doing a great job of getting yourself there."

"What the fuck are you talking abo–"

"When I spared Weed's life, I did it for a very specific reason." the wolf said. "And that was so I could see his reaction when he woke up and saw what we've done in his absence, especially given all that I told him. Now that seems like something that would be very difficult to accomplish if he's **dead**…which is why the only explanation I can come up with for why the FUCK you sent an assassin after him, directly defying me, is that you **want** me to kill you. So? What's the answer?"

Ronin backed up a step, his breath catching in his throat. How the hell had he found out?! Before he could take another step, though, suddenly he was knocked clean off his feet and onto his back. As he landed, he felt Scimitar stomp down hard on his balls and he let out a howl of pain. Then the wolf's paw was at his throat and Ronin's eyes widened as he looked up at the warlord, not having the mobility to roll away. Scimitar glared down at him murderously.

"You listen to me, you pathetic, ungrateful **thing**." he hissed at Ronin, and he was clearly very angry. "Thus far I have tolerated your insubordination solely because you are useful to my final goal. That is also the reason I didn't just castrate you instead, because I still need your strength. However, the fine, invisible thread that is my patience is wearing thin, and if you **ever** do anything to piss me off again, it will snap…along with your neck. Do I make myself clear?"

Ronin nodded shallowly, unable to determine whether he felt angry or scared.

"Oh good." Scimitar said mock-sweetly, then his voice changed back again. "Now go to your group!"

Then he let him up and Ronin leapt aside instantly, choking for breath. Once he had caught it, he shot Scimitar a hateful glare and moved back towards his troops.

"Oh and Ronin?"

The malamute froze again and looked over his shoulder at the warlord.

"You better hope to god he doesn't die." Scimitar said malevolently. "Because if he does and it's not on my terms…then you will **really** see me angry."

Ronin felt a chill go through him, but he didn't let Scimitar see him react. Then, seething quietly once more, he stalked away.

* * *

Rocket shook sleep off of him as he awoke with a start. He was resting in the same place he had been ever since he'd arrived at the humans' building, under the porch behind the stairs, and didn't particularly want to move. Despite the kindness of Gin's former master and his friend, part of Rocket still didn't trust humans entirely, and he didn't venture out unless he wanted to check on Weed. Right now, the humans had all left and the place was empty except for Weed, who Rocket suspected was busy recuperating in the small room they had been treating him in. Realizing that he was still tired, Rocket wondered why he had awoken, a thought that only stayed in his mind for a second. He suddenly heard a dog ascending the stairs only inches above his head and froze up, realizing that whoever it was had apparently failed to notice him, as he was currently downwind and out of sight. Standing up as silently as he could, Rocket slunk out from his hiding place in time to see a thin, spotted tail disappear around the corner of the door, which had been left partially open by the humans.

Realizing that the strange dog was headed directly for the room where Weed was, Rocket crept up the stairs and followed him inside. When he'd rounded the corner as well, he saw the dog clearly, now standing at a door that must lead to Weed. The dog was a foxhound, with white fur and brown spots that coated his form, and Rocket's senses told him instantly that the dog was not friendly. Then he saw the foxhound push open the door with a paw.

"Hey!" Rocket barked and the dog whirled in surprise.

The second it saw him, the stranger turned and ran full tilt into Weed's room, and Rocket lunged after it as fast as he could go in the limited space. Once inside he lunged without thinking further, only barely registering the foxhound's jaws about to close down on the unconscious and bandaged Weed's throat before he barreled into him hard and sent them both sprawling. As Rocket jumped to his paws, he found that the attacker already had, and he was smacked across the muzzle hard before being grabbed and thrown into a wall with a painful 'CRASH'.

'Shit!' Rocket thought, shaking it off, 'This guy's an assassin! Only they move that fast, and he's no ninja dog!'

His speed helping him greatly, Rocket lunged again and bit the dog hard on the back of the neck. Then he threw him aside and positioned himself in between him and Weed. The foxhound snarled and squared off to him.

'Damn!' Rocket thought. 'What the hell do I do now?!'

* * *

Everything was black. That was all Weed registered as he looked around. For some reason, he felt very light and looking down at himself, he noticed to his distinct surprise that he was completely unharmed. No scars remained from his run-in with Scimitar, and it felt as though it had never happened at all. This wasn't right. Looking up, he called out:

"Where am I?"

No one answered. Weed took a few steps forward, trying to ignore the fact that the ground he was walking on was the same shade of black as everything else and didn't seem to exist.

"Is anyone there?" he called again. "Where am I?"

"You're safe, Weed." came a voice suddenly. "You're safe here."

Weed's head whipped around, but he couldn't see anyone there the voice could've come from.

"Where are you?" he asked edgily. "What's going on?!"

Then, a few feet in front of him, Weed saw a dog appear as if out of thin air. Freezing up in shock, Weed met the dog's gaze. He was a large, majestic looking male; an Akita like himself. The dog had red fur and was covered in battle scars, but had a wisdom and compassion in his eyes that reminded Weed instantly of his father. He also was ringed by a ghostly green glow that seemed as much a part of him as every other feature.

"I'm right here." the dog said in a deep, rich voice. "I've always been here. We all have."

And before Weed could respond, suddenly more dogs appeared next to them, all of them carrying the same ghostly glow that the first had possessed. There were three of them in all, and when Weed focused on their faces, he felt every muscle in his body seize up. Trembling, he felt tears begin forming in his eyes as he looked at them: a older German Shepard with a playful, arrogant look; another red-furred Akita, but this one around his age; and a smiling black and white English Setter that was looking at him with a pride he usually saw in his father.

"G-GB?!" he stammered and the Setter nodded. "Yu-Yukimura?! John-sama?! How? Wh-Why-?"

"You didn't really think goodbye was **forever**, did you brother?" Yukimura asked, a smile tracing his ghostly muzzle. "You know better than that."

"But where am –"

"You're being cared for by humans." John said. "Good humans. But they've taken it as far as they can."

"And now **you** need to fight the rest of the way back." the first dog added, looking at Weed seriously. "Your friends and family are in danger, and you need to be there to help protect them. That's your duty as leader."

Weed looked around at them.

"And if I don't fight," he said. "…Then I die?"

All four nodded and John spoke.

"Yes. And that's a decision that's up to you and you alone. But if you're anything like your father, Weed, that won't be a challenge you back down from."

"But why are you telling me this?"

"Because it's not your time to die." GB said softly, speaking for the first time. "And I know that it's not like you to leave the others in danger."

Weed looked over at his godfather and smiled sadly.

"I miss you." he whispered and the Setter smiled back.

"You'll see me again when it's your time." he said. "You'll see us all again."

"How will I know when that is?"

"You'll know…" GB said and Weed nodded and looked back at the others.

"You need to return now, Weed." the first dog said and Weed couldn't shake the feeling that he knew him from somewhere. "The war will soon begin. When it does, fight for the survival of your pack and all the dogs of Japan. Show your enemies what a **real** male is capable of."

"Thrash him, Weed." John said, and his ghostly eyes still somehow managed to show the ferocity that Weed had heard he possessed in life. "Show that scumbag Scimitar the strength of an Ohu soldier."

Weed nodded at him and then at his brother and GB when they nodded in agreement with John's statement. Then suddenly, the black started to slowly become a white glow, and it grew in intensity by the second. Weed looked at the three one more time and they smiled and nodded.

"Goodbye, Weed." the first dog said. "You really are your father's son."

"Wait!" Weed called, beginning to lose sight of him. "Who are you?!"

Right before the bright white filled his vision entirely, Weed saw the dog smile at him for the first time.

"My name is Riki." he said.

Then they were gone.

* * *

Rocket choked and coughed weakly as the assassin leaned harder into the paw that was currently pressing down into his throat, and he vainly tried clawing at his attacker's eyes, drawing some blood but not making him move. The smaller dog had been a much more talented fighter than Rocket had anticipated, and though he normally could hold his own in a fight, this was one that he was undeniably losing. Blood streamed from small cuts all over his body and the room was in shambles from their duel, but the foxhound was also bleeding profusely from cuts of his own, and Rocket had managed to get him to focus on him and him alone, leaving Weed safe for the moment. His own safety on the other hand, was another matter. The assassin sneered down at him.

"I don't have time for this bullshit." he said. "Now why don't you be a good mutt and die so I don't have to deal with you."

Unable to speak, Rocket managed to get all his legs underneath the dog and kick him off, sending him flying backwards into a wall. Before he could so much as catch his breath, though, he was smacked back down hard, and this time it was teeth that wrapped around his throat. Rocket knew instantly that it was over.

"Big mistake, bastard." the assassin hissed triumphantly. "Now you die."

"After you." came a voice suddenly and Rocket looked up in time to see Weed, who was still covered in bandages, bury his fangs right into the assassin's forehead as hard as he could.

A loud 'CRUNCH' was heard and the dog's eyes went wide as blood exploded from the impact point and he released his grip on Rocket, who again coughed for breath. Then, after a few seconds, Weed yanked his fangs out and the assassin fell over, landing dead with an almost insignificant 'THUD'.

"Weed!" Rocket said in between coughs, "Are you okay?"

"I will be." was the Akita's answer. "And you, Rocket?"

"I'm fine. These wounds are minor. I'm lucky you woke up right then, though, leader."

Weed smiled and stretched, shaking the bandages off him and looking very rejuvenated from his treatment, despite the large scar now on the back of his head. Then he walked to Rocket and gestured with his head towards the door.

"Come on, Rocket." he said. "We have a war to win."

Then Rocket followed him out the front door and they ran off back into the wild, leaving the Hotel Fujiwara and their human saviors behind.

* * *

Daisuke shook the water off him as he walked into the bar. It had started raining as he and Hidetoshi had been walking back from the hospital, where Hidetoshi had been getting more bandages to use on Gin's son back at Daisuke's place, and now the young man was soaked almost clear through to the skin. Daisuke had decided to get them a couple of drinks that they could take back with them, and as he walked up to the counter, the bartender came over to meet him.

"Two sakes, and I'll take the bottle." he said and the bartender nodded and walked away.

As Daisuke got his money out to pay him, he saw the man sitting to his right staring at him. When he looked up with a frown, the man pointed at him.

"You're Hidetoshi's friend, aren't you?" he said and Daisuke was taken a little aback.

"Yeah, that's me." he answered. "And you are?"

"Name's Daigo." the man answered, pulling out a cigarette from his jacket and lighting it. "I used to be Hidetoshi's hunting partner. He's never mentioned me, huh?"

"No, sorry." Daisuke laughed.

"Ehh, doesn't matter." Daigo said, waving it off and turning back to the bar. "It doesn't surprise me one bit."

Daigo was roughly mid 50's in age, Daisuke guessed, and had a clean shaven face that made him look a little younger than he probably was. He was wearing a wool-lined jacket and hunting boots that looked worn from use.

"So what are you doing up this way, Daigo-san?" Daisuke asked, giving the bartender the money he owed and taking his bottle and drinks.

"Hunting." came the answer. "I'm head of a small group that's going to be hunting up here in a few days."

"What are you hunting for?" Daisuke asked, only half paying attention as he looked outside to see if Hidetoshi was waiting for him.

Daigo looked over at him, breathing smoke from his cigarette.

"Dogs." he said. "Wild dogs."

Daisuke froze. He met the older man's weathered gaze.

"Are you –?"

"-Going to Futago Pass to hunt? Yeah." Daigo responded. "Hidetoshi told me about you. That's how I knew who you were by the way. He told me you wanted to try and save those dogs."

"I still am going to, so don't you dare go and shoot them!"

"Don't take it personally, kid, it's just a job I was hired to do." the older man said, standing up.

Daisuke still looked furious, though, so Daigo shrugged and put money of his own down on the counter.

"Look," he said. "If it makes you feel any better, I managed to convince them that I only have to kill enough so that the pack's no longer a threat, at least in my opinion. So at least some of them'll live."

Then he zipped up his coat and clapped Daisuke on the shoulder.

"See you around, kid." Daigo said. "Tell Hidetoshi I said hi."

Then he walked out the door, tossing his cigarette onto the street as he did, leaving Daisuke holding his drinks, glaring angrily after him in his wake.

**---**


	12. The Beginning Of The End

**Author's Note: **This is where the action picks up again, and the story starts to get more violent. I'm actually proud of this chapter, so I hope everyone enjoys it. Also, if you read the story, review it. I'll be grateful. Thanks.

**---**

Ken shifted his gaze from left to right as he ran, taking in the sights and smells of everything around him and thoroughly enjoying it, despite the seriousness of their current situation. He and the pack had just arrived back in Futago Pass in Ohu, moving at the same strenuous pace as before on Gin's insistence, and were now only minutes away from Gajou, maybe less. They had been gone for just over 2 weeks and Ken could tell as he looked around at his companions that he was not the only one glad to be back on familiar ground. Jerome and Hiro in particular looked happy to be back, as both of them had mates waiting for them, and the others' expressions betrayed their relief, even if it was not intentionally shown.

Then he looked over at the dog running beside him and felt concern rise in him again. Kagetora had seemed distant during the last few days and though Ken knew why, he still had assumed that his high spirited best friend would've snapped out of it by now and gotten back to his normal self. He seemed to be in a better mood at the moment then he had been since his recovery, Ken saw, but he still seemed a little bit off to the Great Dane.

'Maybe he's just worried about Weed at this point.' Ken mused, 'Hell, everybody is.'

When he looked up to check on Gin and Akame's positions, he saw a familiar sight beyond them, growing larger as they got closer. Gajou… Ken smiled and kept right with the leaders as they picked up the pace even more. As they got closer, he saw that there were dogs situated on and around the great stone structure, waiting for them. As they approached and finally trotted to a halt right in front of it, one of the dogs leapt down off a high rock to greet them. Ken recognized him immediately. His name was Kisaragi, and his black and white fur seemed to have faded a little with age since the last time he'd been among them. Kisaragi, who was a Siberian Husky and a former ally of Gin's during the war against Akakabuto, usually lived up in Mutsu, on the northernmost border of Japan's main island, but had come down to help upon Gin's request when he had heard about the situation with Scimitar and his forces. Ken saw Gin walk up to his friend and both their tails wagged as they greeted each other. Then he walked up as well and listened in.

"…we wondered what had become of you." Kisaragi was saying. "It's good you've returned."

"Has anything happened up here?" Gin asked and Kisaragi shook his head.

"No, but that might change soon." he said. "This Scimitar bastard and his thugs have been busy. They've been going around attacking other territories, seemingly at random. We just got word from one of our scouts this morning that the Saitama pack was totally wiped out. Before that, they annihilated 3 other clans as well, all within the past few days. Everybody's on high alert."

Gin looked furious but managed to keep his composure.

"Are there any survivors at all from the attacks?" he asked and Kisaragi shook his head.

"No." he said in a calm but angry voice. "They kill everyone. Down to the smallest pup."

Ken growled low in his throat at that and heard the same coming from all around him. What he wouldn't give to have 5 minutes alone with Scimitar somewhere with no witnesses. 10 minutes… He shook his head to clear it. He didn't want to let his anger get the best of him. He needed to be on his game for the battles he knew lay ahead, and getting all worked up was something that none of them needed right now.

"Have Weed and Rocket shown up?" Gin asked, a hopeful note in his voice.

"No." Kisaragi said with a frown. "They're not with you?"

That response didn't do much for their morale and Gin looked disappointed by it, but then suddenly 2 forms came running out of Gajou's inner sanctum and Ken turned to look. One was Lydia, he saw, and the other was Koyuki, and Ken watched with a grin as the former leapt on Jerome and gave him a lick on the muzzle, nuzzling into his neck fur afterwards as he licked her back.

"It's about time you got back!" she said. "I've been worried about you!"

"I'm fine." Jerome responded, "But what about you? Has anything happened?"

"Not yet." she said, looking back at her noticeably distended belly.

Jerome looked both disappointed and relieved at the same time and Kurotura laughed as everyone kept catching their breath after the long run.

"Enjoy it while you can, Jerome." he said. "When they come out, you'll never get another moment to yourself."

Everyone laughed and Kurotura looked pleased that his attempt to lighten the mood had been successful.

"Very true." Kisaragi, who had 19 sons, agreed. "Very, **very** true."

Ken's smile widened at this, but then he saw Koyuki, who was also noticeably pregnant, looking around at the group of them. After a moment, she walked up to him and asked:

"Ken, where's Weed?"

Ken's smile faded almost instantly and he was silent for a second, as were the dogs around him who had overheard.

"He…uh…had to go somewhere with Rocket." he said. "They'll be back when they're finished with what they're doing."

Koyuki sighed and looked dejectedly at the ground.

"Promise he isn't hurt." she said and Ken panicked.

"I – I –"

"He isn't hurt." a voice called suddenly. "I promise."

Ken whirled on the spot and looked towards its source along with everyone else. Then he gasped. Standing at the edge of the tree line to their left were two dogs, both of whom looked exhausted…and familiar. It was Weed and Rocket.

"Weed!" everyone yelled and they all ran towards their comrades, Kyoushiro and Koyuki leading the way.

When they got there, everything became a happy blur as the two were greeted enthusiastically. Ken said hello to Rocket as he walked up and saw Weed greeting Joe to his right, the latter looking very relieved at his brother's condition. Then Ken saw Gin walk up and pull his son into a fierce neck-hug, looking as though a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders. When they pulled apart, the older Akita met Weed's gaze.

"Are you all right?" he asked and Weed nodded as both Jerome and Tesshin gave him friendly, gentle greeting nudges to the side.

"Yes, father." he responded. "I'm just tired. We both are."

"Unfortunately, we can't afford to get much rest." Akame said and Weed tensed up almost instantly.

"What's that bastard done now?" he asked, obviously guessing who Akame was talking about.

"He's having his troops attack our neighboring packs." Kyoushiro said from behind the ninja dog and Weed got an angry look on his face. "They've already hit 4."

"He's playing on our emotions." Weed said and Akame nodded.

"Exactly." he agreed. "Scimitar's trying to get us angry so we'll make a mistake and he can use it against us."

"He's doing a damn good job of it too." Ken said with a growl and some of the dogs around him nodded in agreement.

"Either way, we can't let them keep doing it." Jerome said. "We're going to have to go to them and stop them by force."

"But what about the defenses here? Are they ready?" Weed asked and Kisaragi shook his head.

"No," he said. "And that's the problem. Izou, Suzaku, and their group only arrived earlier today as well. We're not set up to defend Gajou yet."

"And we're running out of time." Gin added, agreeing with him. "We may need to do both simultaneously."

Weed looked as if he had thought of this as well but didn't like the idea at all. Then he nodded anyway.

"Alright." he said. "Let Rocket and I rest up a little and start gathering everyone together. The faster we can get this done the better. Joe, can I talk to you alone for a minute?"

The other Akita frowned slightly in surprise but nodded and followed him as he started moving towards Gajou's entrance. Before Weed could move off though, Kagetora stopped him.

"Leader," he said, sounding guilty. "Are you sure you - "

Weed rested a paw on his friend's shoulder.

"I'm fine, Kagetora." he said kindly, then as if he'd read the other dog's mind added: "It wasn't your fault. Don't forget that."

Kagetora smiled slightly and seemed to straighten up where he stood, clearly more at ease because of his leader's words. Ken let out an unheard sigh of relief when he saw this and then moved off to help Gin and the others gather the dogs as Weed had requested. As he passed the entrance to the cave, sternly telling a couple pet dogs gathered nearby to join an amassing group a few feet away, he glanced in Gajou's entrance at Weed and Joe and stopped mid-stride in curiosity. Looking in, it seemed as if the 2 were arguing, and Ken frowned in concern as he saw that Joe was clearly upset with whatever Weed was saying to him. Weed, for his part, seemed relatively calm, yet definitely serious about his words, even though Ken couldn't make them out. When it looked as if they were finishing up their discussion a few minutes later, Ken quickly rejoined the main group, standing next to Kagetora as the two emerged back outside. Soon, everyone had been gathered and Weed leapt up onto one of Gajou's high rocks so that the hundreds of dogs that were there could all see him.

"As Akame said," he yelled so he could be heard clearly. "There's no time to rest. So my brother Joe and I are going to lead a group to Scimitar and his pack's last known location and track them from there. 100 of you will join us, including Kyoushiro and Kagetora."

Both Kyoushiro and Kagetora looked up at him gratefully and the look that passed between Weed and the latter clearly told Ken that he was giving the honor bound Kai Dog a chance to redeem himself, in his own eyes if no one else's.

"The rest of you will stay here under my father's command and get the defenses here ready." Weed continued. "Once we find these dogs, we'll send a message for you to come down and join up with us. We'll have to do this quickly so they don't have a chance to regroup or launch a counter attack. But first and foremost, I want our home and families here protected. Remember, I'm counting on all of you."

Everyone gathered looked up at him proudly and Ken could feel the fighting spirit of the pack growing by the second. Then Weed looked at them determinedly.

"Dogs of Ohu!" he said fiercely. "Let's end this!"

A roar of approval went up from the lower ranking dogs gathered below and Ken joined the higher ranking ones as they met Weed when he was back on ground level.

"Leader," Akame said. "I think more of us should go with you."

"I agree." Tesshin added. "You just got over a major injury, Weed. With all respect…you may need us."

"I do need you." Weed agreed, looking at him. "Right here. Please trust me on this, all of you. I know it doesn't make much sense, but my instincts tell me that our home will need defending soon, and I want as many of you here as possible to see that it is. Joe, Kagetora, and Kyoushiro can protect me fine, and we're only going to determine their location, not engage them. Once we find them, we'll call for you and then we'll attack."

The other dogs looked uneasy at the plan, but said nothing, electing to trust their leader instead of questioning him further. Then Weed turned to Kyoushiro.

"Kyoushiro," he commanded. "Go gather half of the Koga Ninja Dogs and then get the rest of the 100 others that are coming with us. We're leaving immediately."

Kyoushiro nodded and ran off as Weed turned and went to talk to Koyuki, who looked very worried over by Lydia. Ken turned to Kagetora, who had started to move off to go help Kyoushiro gather their troops.

"Try to take care of yourself this time, Kage." he said, meaning well.

Suddenly, Kagetora whirled and bit him on the shoulder hard enough to leave a mark. Ken yelped and jumped back.

"What the hell was that for?!"

"That was for doubting me, you stuck up mutt!" Kagetora said angrily and Ken wrinkled his nose in irritation.

"The only one doubting you is **you**, Kagetora!" he yelled as the other dog walked off and followed Joe. "Don't take it out on me just because **you** messed up the first time!"

The minute he said it, Ken regretted the words. Kagetora had given no indication that he had heard, but Ken still felt guilty for saying something he hadn't meant at all.

"Wait! Kage!" he called, but by the time he looked up, his friend had joined the gathered group and they had begun to move out, Weed now at their head.

Before Ken could say anything more, they had vanished from sight.

* * *

Takeshi grinned as he licked the blood off his teeth. It had a sweet, almost metallic taste to it that he'd grown to enjoy, and over the past few days he'd had more than enough to at least somewhat assuage his seemingly insatiable appetite for it. Of course, it didn't give him the same rush he would undoubtedly get when he tasted Tesshin's blood.

'God I hope he screams.' Takeshi thought brutally as he walked silently towards the small, hidden depression in the rock wall to his left, where he senses told him Scimitar was. 'I love it when they scream.'

He was wondering what his enemy's howl of agony would sound like as he stalked around a tree and saw Scimitar standing a few feet away, hidden from the view of the others and nearly invisible in the dimmer light. The minute he saw him, Takeshi's senses told him that something was wrong. Normally, he wouldn't have put much stock in this, as it was the feeling that he always got when the wolf was around, but this time it was unusually strong, and his training had taught him to always trust his instincts. Looking closer, he frowned. Scimitar stood with his forehead pressed to the rough stone wall, staring at the ground beneath him and not making a sound. Takeshi stepped up to him.

"Sir," he said. "What's our next target?"

Scimitar didn't respond. He didn't even move.

"Scimitar-sama, what are your –?"

"Have you ever wondered, Takeshi," the wolf said suddenly. "How you would die?"

Takeshi tensed a little.

"What?" he asked warily.

"None of you know how or when you're going to die." Scimitar responded, still not looking at him. "It could be in 10 years, it could be in 5 seconds. That not knowing makes you cautious, makes you more reluctant to do things that are a little bit…crazy."

Then he turned and looked at the ninja dog and Takeshi gasped under his breath. Thick, red blood streamed from both of the wolf's nostrils, and his intimidating icy blue eyes were now tinged strongly with the liquid, making them look downright scary and him even crazier than he already had before. Takeshi was at a momentary loss for words and Scimitar grinned at him.

"The poison's started to take effect," he said, tilting his head slightly and looking back at the ground. "Which means that I'm out of time."

Then he looked Takeshi right in the eye.

"It's time to go." he commanded in a soft, cold voice. "Gather the dogs together and get them ready to move out now. It's time for Ohu to fall."

Takeshi nodded and leapt away as he turned, attempting to mask his excitement that his bloodlust would be satisfied sooner than he had anticipated. In the back of his mind, part of him was concerned with what Scimitar was now capable of, having nothing at all to lose and looking as truly insane as he did, but he pushed the thoughts aside. Tesshin was now closer than ever, and so was his revenge.

'Here we go…' he thought. '**Finally**. Here we go…'

* * *

Akame looked around as their subordinates moved to where they were told, frowning in concentration as he made sure that everything was being done right. It had been only a few hours since the departure of Weed, Joe, and their pack, and he and Gin had already begun setting up the defenses around Gajou, positioning their forces so that it was well guarded on all sides. They were, however, moving slowly, and Akame had shared Gin's concern that they should be getting ready faster. Most of the dogs that were gathered knew the severity of the situation, having heard about the massacres of the neighboring packs and the destruction of the human village down south, but some of them, mainly younger males just out of puphood, didn't seem to grasp what was about to happen, and Akame wondered silently if they knew what war was really like. He wished **he** didn't. Even though he was a ninja dog, and had been trained for the express purpose of violence, he still thought of war as distasteful, and had grown to despise it over the course of his long life.

'All war is death.' he thought, watching as Hiro and Ken directed lower ranking soldiers on where to position themselves. 'And death is sadness. War may be necessary, but that doesn't stop it from being monstrous. I've seen too much war.'

He was snapped out of his thoughts by a voice calling his name. Looking up, he saw Teru running at him from the distant tree line positioned at Gajou's front, exiting it from almost the exact place that Hook had when they had learned about the deaths of Musashi and Jaguar. It seemed like so long ago now. Akame saw Gin step up next to him and greet the young ninja dog as he skidded to a halt, two comrades at his side.

"What is it, Teru?" Gin asked sternly.

"Sir!" he breathed urgently, panting from the run and looking frantic. "It's Scimitar! He's headed right at us! Our scouts just spotted him and his pack not more than a mile from here!"

"What?!" Gin barked in shock and Akame echoed his expression. "Are you sure?!"

"Yes sir!" Teru nodded. "And he's not the only one. There's another group of dogs coming from the river canyon, and a third group coming from the forest on the other side. We think the leader of the river group is Ronin!"

"Which means that Takeshi must be in the forest." Akame said and Gin nodded.

"I thought that they were still down by Saitama!" Kisaragi growled.

"Apparently not." Kurotura chimed in. "Gin, we need to get everyone situated now!"

"I know!" Gin responded and then turned quickly to the group of them. "Tesshin, take Sasuke, Izou, Suzaku, and their group and defend from the forest! Jerome, you, Kurotura, Ken, and Shigure take half of the soldiers you gathered and head for the river! Stop Ronin at all costs! Everyone else stay here with us! We'll head off Scimitar!"

The dogs didn't wait for any further instructions. They quickly gathered in the groups Gin told them to and began to run off. Before they were out of earshot though, Gin got their attention one more time.

"Remember," he yelled. "We can't let them get to Gajou! With us surrounded, we can't get the leader's mate and the other innocents to safety, which means they'll have to stay here! This is our paradise! Defend it with your lives! Now go!"

Then everyone ran off and Gin and Akame exchanged a look as George, Hiro, and Rocket got up next to them, yelling at their soldiers to get into position. Almost the moment they had, something emerged from the trees where Teru had come from. It was a huge pack of dogs, and they seemed to pour out of the trees like ants streaming from a colony. At the head of them, surrounded by a number of brutal-looking, heavily scarred subordinates, was a black-furred wolf whose very presence seemed to be intimidating the others around him. Though Akame had never seen him before, he knew instantly who it was and growled, hearing Gin do the same next to him. The group of dogs walked to within a few hundred feet of them and then stopped. Once they had, Akame saw Scimitar's head moving from left to right, scanning Ohu's forces with blazing, angry eyes before stopping on Gin. Then he smirked.

"The great Gin of Ohu," Scimitar drawled nastily. "We meet at last."

"You hurt my son." Gin said with a murderous look, locking gazes with the warlord. "You murdered my friends. For that, I'm going to give you exactly what you deserve…"

"I've heard that you were a legend," Scimitar said, ignoring him. "That you actually decapitated a bear in one blow. Now **that**…that's impressive. Although by the look of you it must have happened a lifetime ago."

Gin growled.

"When this is over, Scimitar," he said. "You'll regret you ever crossed that ocean to begin with."

"I'm dead anyway." the wolf responded, a hollow grin on his muzzle. "What more can you do to me? No, Gin. When this is over, **you'll **be the one who regrets I crossed that ocean. You'll regret what you did to me when everything you ever loved dies…and then you do."

"We didn't do **anything** to you!"

"YOU LET MAXIME GO! THAT WAS ENOUGH!!" Scimitar snarled violently, then calmed down, flexing his neck on his shoulders. "And for that crime, I hereby sentence you and your whole pack to death, a sentence I will now carry out."

Gin got in a fighting stance, Akame and the others doing the same.

"I have had **enough** of you." he said. "If it's a fight you want, then let's go. I'm sick of hearing you talk."

Scimitar grinned widely and turned to his troops.

"You heard the dog." he said, and the subordinates around him dropped into fighting stances as well, growling at their counterparts across from them.

Then Scimitar turned back to Gin.

"There now." he said with a smile. "Aren't we having fun?"

Then, as if the words had been a cue to go, his troops charged.

"GO!" Gin shouted, and the Ohu army charged as well.

The war had begun.

* * *

Weed and Joe glanced at each other as they took the sight in. It was bad enough to see rotting bodies, but when some of the bodies were of small pups, it was downright sickening. They had just arrived in the neighboring territory of Saitama, and it hadn't taken them long to find the scene of the massacre that Kisaragi had informed them about. The Saitama pack had been on good terms with the Ohu Army, but they hadn't seen each other much, and Weed only knew some of the leaders, all of whom now lay dead in front of them, including their top leader, a Doberman named Draven.

"Everyone on your guard." Weed said uneasily. "Sniff out any sign of where they might have gone."

At that, the pack behind them split up and began walking around in groups, searching for any trace of the invaders' current whereabouts. Joe turned to Weed as Kyoushiro walked by, his nose to the ground as he tried to pick up Scimitar, Ronin, or Takeshi's scents.

"They could've already moved on to their next target." he said. "How many packs are near here that they could have gone after?"

"3." Weed answered with a frown of concern. "And they could be headed for any one of them. Or none. Scimitar's unpredictable, which is the problem."

Joe nodded in agreement, then looked around at the grisly scene before them. Pointing his snout up, he scented the wind and Weed joined him moments later.

"Leader!" came Kagetora's voice suddenly and both Weed and Joe looked towards it. "Over here!"

The brothers ran quickly over to where the Kai dog was and found Kyoushiro and several other dogs already there.

"What is it?" Weed asked urgently.

"I've got Ronin's scent." he said. "Along with a shitload of others, including Scimitar's. They're headed northeast."

Weed tensed up immediately, looking scared.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"Smell for yourself, Weed." Kyoushiro said from beside him. "They're definitely headed that way, all of them. We must've bypassed them somehow on the way down here."

"Boss, there's only one pack in that direction." one of the Koga ninja dogs to Weed's left said.

Weed looked at Joe in alarm and the other met his gaze.

"Ohu." Joe growled, saying what his brother was thinking. "He's attacking Gajou…"

Weed whirled on the spot, looking frantic.

"All dogs move out!" he shouted. "We're heading back to base! All dogs MOVE OUT!"

* * *

The initial impact had been violent. That's what Gin remembered most of all as the fight had begun. The two packs had come together with a series of bone shattering collisions, and grunts and whimpers of pain soon followed from all around him. Blood had started to fly almost the second the fighting dogs had met in a clash of teeth and claws, and Gin was already spattered with a good deal of it. He had bowled over the first dog that had tried to lunge at him, and tore the throat out of its comrade when he tried to take advantage of the older Akita's distraction. Gin heard Akame moving fast to his right, and when an enemy dog grabbed him from the side by the neck, the ninja dog came to his aid, scalping the attacker in a lightning fast move that made Gin marvel at Akame's seemingly unfaltering fighting ability even in his old age.

Both of them had tried to run immediately at Scimitar, who had stayed where he was when the packs had charged, but they had been intercepted by his minions, who had wasted no time in trying to kill the two most legendary Ohu warriors first. They had failed, but that had given Scimitar the chance to slip away and disappear into the mass of fighting dogs, and Gin had lost track of him. Then he heard a shriek of pain and a dog went flying to his left as Hiro jumped up beside them, spitting something from his mouth that looked suspiciously like his enemy's testicles.

"Where's Scimitar?!" he shouted, grabbing another attacker in his jaws and breaking his neck with a sickening 'SNAP'.

"I don't know!" Akame answered loudly, dodging another bite and throwing the culprit into his charging companions. "We lost track of him!"

"Look for him!" Gin barked commandingly. "We can't let him get away!"

Then the three leapt back into the brawl.

* * *

Koyuki shrunk back into the corner slightly inside the cave, trying not to listen to the noises coming from just outside. Beside her, Lydia and Reika looked just as scared, all of them just barely able to see the fighting dogs through the entrance to their temporary haven inside Gajou. She winced as she heard a particularly horrible scream of pain from outside and then she turned to her companions.

"This is insane!" she said shakily. "We have to get out of here!"

"We're surrounded." Lydia said in a slightly calmer voice. "There's nowhere for us to go. If we step outside we'll be attacked, and you and I can't fight while we're pregnant like this."

Koyuki knew she was right, but that didn't make her feel any better. Weed wasn't here, and though she felt safe with the others, she wished her mate were here to give her a more thorough sense of security. Turning back to them, she said:

"We need a plan, at least. If we have to run, we need a place to go. What should we do if that happens?"

Lydia looked almost impressed.

"Wow, Koyuki." she teased, her voice still betraying her nervousness. "You'd almost make a good military dog."

Koyuki and Reika managed to laugh slightly at this, and Lydia smiled comfortingly as she looked at them.

"If we have to," she said. "Run for the river. Jerome and his group are down there and they can protect us. Also, we can jump into the water as a last resort."

Her 2 companions nodded in agreement and Koyuki felt a little better, knowing that they at least had a plan of action.

"That's assuming you can even make it out of this cave." came a voice suddenly and they all whirled in surprise. "And therein…lies your unfortunate little flaw."

Before them, silhouetted in the light, stood a black wolf. He had a leering smile on his face and had blood spattered all over his muzzle and chest. Koyuki felt a chill go through her at the sight of him and she saw Lydia trembling, a terrified look on her face.

"Who are you?" Koyuki asked shakily, taking a step backwards.

"Forgive me," the wolf said. "We haven't been formerly introduced."

Then he took a step towards them and Koyuki's vision adjusted enough to see his eyes, which were a frightening mix of icy blue and blood red.

"Hello, Koyuki." he said, his muzzle twisted into a bloodthirsty grin. "My name is Scimitar."

**---**


	13. Sacrifice

**Author's Note: **This chapter is one of the sadder ones, but I think it came out well regardless. Please review.

**---**

Koyuki had never been so terrified in her life. She had no idea how the warlord had gotten past Gin and the others, but that wasn't something she had time to dwell on. Scimitar was advancing slowly, step by step, looking as if he were savoring the moment as his eyes bore into theirs, and Koyuki could see absolutely no way of getting past him to safety. Lydia was between him and her two companions, and had snarled at him a few times now, unsuccessfully trying to warn him off.

"Please don't do this!" Koyuki begged. "We're pregnant! We're going to have puppies!"

Scimitar gave her a heartless smirk.

"Then consider it a favor that I'll spare them the pain of living." he sneered, licking blood off his teeth.

"I said BACK OFF!" Lydia yelled louder, unable to mask her fear as she did so.

Scimitar stopped and looked at her. Then he let out a blood-curdling laugh.

"Wait…" he said, sounding horribly pleased with the situation. "I know you. You're Maxime's little bitch! I remember your face from Russia."

He nodded at her belly and narrowed his eyes.

"What happened?" he asked sadistically. "Big brother decide to continue on the family line before he left?"

"Go to hell!" she snarled.

"Already been there." Scimitar grinned. "It was boring. Things are so much more fun up here."

Then he turned to Koyuki and met the terrified dog's gaze, and she could tell instantly as his smile faded that he was through playing.

"Sorry, baby." he said, dropping into a crouch that suggested he was about to lunge. "This may hurt a little bit."

Koyuki let out a howl of terror as he suddenly lunged directly at her, but suddenly a shape came flying in from the side, moving so fast that she barely saw it's form, and tackled the wolf in midair so hard that they both went clear through part of the unstable rock wall to her left, landing in a thrashing heap back outside among the fighting dogs and scattered debris. She recognized their savior almost immediately.

"Gin!" she cried in relief as the Akita pinned Scimitar by the shoulders on his back.

Not acknowledging her, Gin grabbed Scimitar by the throat and bit down hard, trying to crush his windpipe and kill him right there. The wolf choked as blood oozed out from around Gin's teeth, but then he suddenly drove his claws into the Ohu commander's eyes, causing him to loosen his grip with a yelp of pain. Before Scimitar could get up, though, Gin grabbed him again and swung him hard at another, thicker section of rocks, ripping some flesh off his neck as he did, and Koyuki watched as the warlord bounced off one of the boulders head first, landing on his side this time with a dull 'THUD'.

"Get back inside!" Gin yelled at her and she turned and did as he asked.

Once she was out of sight, Gin dove at Scimitar again, but the wolf was ready this time and dove aside as the Akita landed, leaping back to get good position on him. Using his speed, Gin bit at his opponent's face, but Scimitar dodged left and right and bit back at him, forcing Gin to go on the defensive instead. They matched each other move for move, neither gaining ground, before Scimitar landed a headbutt and then swung around and kicked Gin in the face with his hind legs as he staggered back, sending the older dog to the ground hard. As Gin landed, Scimitar leapt on him, panting to catch his breath and ignoring the blood streaming from the fresh wounds on his neck and side.

"You're too slow, old man." he hissed, pushing his paw into the Akita's throat to choke him. "What did you **really **think you could do to me?"

Gin looked him right in the eye.

"Distract you." he rasped and Scimitar's eyes widened as if he had suddenly realized what the other dog meant.

Too late he tried to leap aside though, as another form hit him from above this time, biting down hard on the back of his neck and flipping him end over end, slamming the warlord into the ground with bone shattering force and leaving him temporarily stunned as a result. Then the newcomer jumped off him and landed by Gin as the Akita stood once more.

"Thanks, Akame." he said and the ninja dog nodded supportively. "Now let's go!"

With that, they both charged Scimitar together and lunged as he was getting back up, now clearly very angry. At the last second, though, the wolf leapt into the air with surprising speed and slashed the surprised Akame across the neck with his fangs, sending blood flying and the old Kishu sprawling. Then, as he landed, Scimitar whirled around and bit Gin on the forehead, putting his weight into it to increase the damage and widening a cut there from a previous blow, making blood stream down the Akita's face from the impact. Gin steeled his will and charged right through it, though, grabbing the wolf's leg in his teeth as he did. Then he swung around and, with a roar of fury, threw Scimitar hard at the edge of the cliff that dropped down into the river canyon 100 feet below, causing the wolf to lose his grip and tear bloody slashes in Gin's flesh as he went flying backwards towards it. Scimitar let out a yell of surprise as he disappeared over the edge and fell, and Gin rushed to the brink in time to see the warlord's body land with an unceremonious 'SPLASH' in the dead center of the river. Panting with fatigue, he kept his eyes on the water, hoping that Scimitar had hit his head on a rock when he'd fallen in and wouldn't surface. To his shock, though, a head exploded up from under the water, followed by a body, and Scimitar roared up at him in fury as he struggled to shore. Gin trembled in anger as he heard Akame come up next to him, and Scimitar pulled himself back onto the bank. Then he looked up at the two Ohu commanders.

"I hope you didn't think it was **that** fucking easy!!" he screamed, water flying off his fur with the force of his movement. "It takes more than that to kill **me**!!"

Gin was about to leap off the cliff to go down after him, but suddenly he heard intense fighting very close by and turned to see George and Hiro getting swarmed by the cave entrance where Koyuki, Lydia, and Reika were, and a large group of Scimitar's subordinates trying to get past them and inside it. The grunt of frustration from beside him told him that Akame had already seen it too. Gin looked back and forth from the group to the cliff. Then he growled.

"Damn it!" he swore, and the two raced back towards their overwhelmed companions.

* * *

Kagetora willed his legs to move faster as the group raced over the last hill. Weed and Joe were leading them at practically a full run as they rushed to get back to Gajou to help, and now all they had to do was get through the trees that surrounded the wide clearing in front of the great stone structure. As they began passing them, hearing the sounds from the battle getting closer and closer, he began thinking about Ken. He had heard the last thing the Great Dane had said to him before he and his group had left and he had been both angry and hurt at the time, but it hadn't taken him long to realize that Ken hadn't really meant what he'd said, and as he'd looked back, Kagetora had seen reflections of himself in his friend's behavior of late. Indeed, he was rubbing off on the other dog, and this made him grin happily. He viewed Ken's transformation from the rigid, rule-obsessed dog he'd been 4 years ago when they'd first met Weed to what he was now as something of a personal victory, and he smiled almost triumphantly at the thought.

As the group of them exploded out of the trees, he saw that the battle had already started, and watched as a young mix breed got literally ripped to pieces by a group of Scimitar's forces. In front of him, Weed didn't even bother telling his troops to attack and immediately lunged at the group of invaders, grabbing one by the cheek with his fangs and ripping half his face clean off in one gory, fluid motion. Kagetora leapt forward alongside Kyoushiro and Joe, marveling at the change in their leader as he heard the dog howl in agony, and charged into the rest of them, knocking them aside and to the ground as they tried to attack the newcomers. He saw Kyoushiro and a Rottweiler drag each other to the ground snarling as Joe grabbed an attacker by the tail and used him as a weapon, swinging him from side to side and making other dogs go flying backwards from the resulting impacts. He felt teeth grabbing him as he ran and, using a trick he'd picked up from watching Gin, did a somersault, making all of his assailants lose their grip and fall off him. Then he started slashing left and right, making blood fly at every impact he landed and pretty soon, he'd gotten to Gajou, knocking a Tosa dog aside with a grunt as he leapt up next to George.

"George!" he yelled. "Where are Ken and my father?"

George bit a Shepard on the muzzle and threw him aside with surprising strength.

"They're down by the river!" he responded, licking blood off his lips. "Jerome led their group down there a while ago to head off Ronin!"

Then he went back to the fight and Kagetora looked over at the edge of the cliff, which the Saluki had gestured to with his head when he had responded. He only paused a moment before running towards it, wondering how long it would take him to get to the bottom.

* * *

Ken threw the enemy dog into the river with a growl, ripping his throat out with an awful tearing noise as he removed his fangs from the warm skin and fur he'd bitten into. Glancing sideways, he saw Kurotura slashing left and right with his fangs, and Shigure right beyond him, currently looking for another opponent to face off with. The battle had started only minutes ago, and the three of them had essentially been left in charge as Jerome had leapt away after Ronin, who had taken off running down the riverbank the opposite way, shouting something that had sounded like:

"Follow me! We've got too much entourage!"

Once the two had disappeared from sight around a bend, the other dogs had immediately attacked, and it was pretty clear that Ronin hadn't bothered to train them in battle or anything close to it. They were disorganized, sloppy, and most weren't all that good at fighting, and Ken wondered if Ronin even cared if they lived or died, or if like Scimitar, he wanted everyone to die in this war, regardless of what side they were on. That wasn't to say that some of them weren't good in battle, and the group was in no way a complete pushover. In fact, at the moment, they were holding their own against the seasoned warriors of Ohu, and Ken had to use all his strength to counterman their currently superior numbers. He wasn't worried, though, and neither were his companions, a fact he deduced from Kurotura's exuberant laugh.

"Ha ha!" came the Kai patriarch's voice. "You guys aren't even worth the effort! Bring your general back and see if he can do any better!"

Ken grinned in spite of himself and smacked an attacker with his paw, sending him yelping to the ground beneath them. He looked over at Shigure.

"Shigure!" he called, "Are you okay over there?"

"I'm fine!" his friend answered. "Concentrate on your own battle!"

"Come on!" Kurotura whooped. "We can clean these guys up in 5 minutes! Let's just finish this and get back up top to Gajou!"

Ken killed another attacker with a swift bite to the throat and nodded at him, though he wasn't sure it would end as quickly as Kurotura had predicted. Suddenly, he heard yelping from his left growing louder and turned to look, throwing off a Shiba Inu that tried to take advantage of this distraction. Frowning in confusion, Ken saw multiple dogs go flying into the river's frigid waters, blood spewing from them in morbid geysers, and the rest on the shore seemed to be scattering in every available direction in fear. Narrowing his gaze, Ken finally found the cause. When he did, he gasped, dropping into a battle stance.

"Kurotura!" he shouted urgently, "Shigure! We've got company!"

His companions stopped mid-fight and turned to look as well upon hearing his warning, and when they did, Ken heard them gasp too. Walking down the middle of the riverbank, dripping wet, covered in blood, and killing anyone that came near him, was Scimitar, and for one bizarre moment, it seemed to Ken that dogs from both sides were abandoning their fight and scrambling out of his way together, making sure that they were as far away from him as they could get while still avoiding the sharp tree roots and branches growing out of the cliff wall beside them. Before Ken could say anything more to Kurotura and Shigure, the wolf looked up at them, a fury in his eyes the like of which Ken had never seen before. Then he continued walking towards them, moving in a slow, deliberate saunter.

"I'd run if I were you." he hissed in a rasping voice. "If you want to live that is. I'm not in the mood to play."

Kurotura snarled at him.

"Bastard!" he snapped. "Kai dogs never run! I've been **waiting** to make you pay for what you've done!"

Ken squared himself off to the warlord as well, trying to project the fury he felt towards him in the expression on his muzzle.

"One more step you fuck and I'll snap your legs off!" he threatened, not breaking eye contact with him.

Scimitar stopped mid-stride and glared right into his eyes.

"You don't want to do this with me right now, boy." he spat, and Ken felt Shigure jump up next to him, baring his teeth angrily.

"Just try it!" he growled. "You know nothing of what **real** Ohu soldiers are like!"

"I know you bleed." Scimitar retorted sadistically, grinning at him. "Your friends taught me that."

That was what finally made Kurotura snap. The Kai patriarch lunged at Scimitar with a roar of fury and Ken didn't have time to yell at him to wait. The wolf moved like lightning and smacked him to the ground hard, immediately grabbing him by the tail and smashing him into the jagged rocks of the cliff wall. Ken leapt to his aid, biting at Scimitar's face and neck, but he didn't land a single hit and found himself being slammed face first into the dirt below seconds later, the back of his neck throbbing from the bite that had sent him there. Jumping to his paws, he heard Shigure yelp and turned in time to see his friend fall to the ground as well, bleeding from a deep slash on his neck. He moved to go at Scimitar again, but Kurotura suddenly beat him to the punch, lunging and biting down on the wolf's neck as hard as he could. Scimitar let out a growl of pain despite himself and proceeded to leap backwards into the cliff's rock wall, using the Kai dog's body like a cushion and making him lose his grip in pain and fall as he struck it again. Ken jumped in to protect him, moving to hit Scimitar with his paw, but the warlord suddenly whirled around, grabbed his leg in his jaws, and bit down hard. Ken heard a 'SNAP' and felt a shockwave of pain hit him as he howled in agony. He knew without looking that his leg was broken and had no time to do anything about it, as he then found himself flying backwards through the air, landing on his back on the very edge of the river. Seconds later, he heard Kurotura land beside him with a grunt in the same position, and neither of them could do anything as Scimitar tossed the still stunned Shigure into the fast flowing water, clearly not considering him a priority. Then suddenly, he was on top of them, and Ken found that he couldn't move as the wolf put his full weight on both of their chests, standing on their hind legs with his own to immobilize them. Then he looked down at them tauntingly.

"Do you know how it feels to die?" he asked softly as Ken uselessly tried to struggle. "You take for granted how easy it is to make it happen, but you don't really know how it **feels**. Well…I do. And now you will too. After all, as war dogs, you should master both life and death. How can you call yourselves true soldiers if you've only experienced one?"

Ken would've liked to say that he was fearless in that moment, when Scimitar's jaws started to open to deliver the fatal blow, but the truth was he was terrified. He didn't even get a chance to look at Kurotura to see the expression on his face as he prepared himself for what he thought were the last moments of his life. Suddenly, right as he was sure that his end had come, something hit Scimitar hard from the side and sent him rolling off of them. Looking up in amazement, Ken saw Kagetora standing in front of him, his tail swishing back and forth in concentration as Scimitar shot to his feet again with an even louder howl of rage, now positively livid at being denied a kill for a second straight time.

"Kage?" he asked, pushing himself to his feet and hearing Kurotura do the same.

Kagetora turned and looked at him, and Ken saw a strange, faraway look in his eyes as he stared back into them. Frowning, he opened his mouth to speak again, but suddenly his friend leapt forward and barreled into them both, sending them flying into the river's swift flow with two loud splashes. After finding himself submerged and kicking his way to the surface in a panic, Ken coughed and sputtered as he saw the light of day once more. Fighting the current mightily despite his broken leg, he looked over at the shore and saw Kagetora standing there, looking at him sadly as Scimitar bore down on him in an unholy rage.

"Kagetora!" Ken shouted. "What the hell are you doing?!"

The Kai dog met his gaze.

"Goodbye, Ken." he said and Ken let out a yelp of confusion and fear as he felt the current drag him under once more.

* * *

Kagetora watched as Ken disappeared beneath the water and then leapt sideways out of reach, sensing Scimitar closing in on him. He turned and looked at the angry wolf as teeth closed down right where his throat had been seconds earlier.

"You'll never hurt my friends on my watch again, bastard." he thundered and Scimitar glared furiously at him.

"You..." he said, his voice dripping with venom. "I let you live before, kid, but not this time. You should've left well enough alone."

Kagetora smirked at him, baring his teeth as he did so.

"Shut up and fight." he said and for the first time since he'd met him, Kagetora saw Scimitar look genuinely shocked, seemingly caught off guard by his apparent lack of fear towards him.

That didn't last long however, and Kagetora saw him drop into a battle crouch.

"Fine." he responded. "Have it your way."

Then he charged and the fight was on. Kagetora jumped into the air and avoided the wolf's teeth, using the cliff wall as a surface to spring off of and get out of reach. Then he counter-charged, trying to grab Scimitar's leg from behind, but the warlord dodged as well and slashed him on the flank as he tried to jump backwards again. Ignoring the pain, Kagetora threw dirt and snow in Scimitar's eyes with a paw and then body checked him into a rock, trying to bite his face as he did. Scimitar once again was too fast, though, and reversed his move on him, biting down on his muzzle and dragging him to the ground with a yelp. Feeling himself pinned, Kagetora kicked the wolf in the balls with his hind leg and then threw him off when his grip loosened. Then he leapt in and slashed Scimitar down his unscarred eye with his fangs, feeling satisfied when he saw blood go flying from the impact point. Stumbling back, Scimitar shook his head to clear the blood away and then charged Kagetora, his fangs bared. Thinking that the wolf had finally made a mistake, Kagetora leapt into the air to hit him from above. That was his undoing. Stopping mid-charge, Scimitar jumped up, grabbed him by the front leg, and swung him hard at the cliff wall. The moment he hit it, Kagetora felt pain the like of which he'd never experienced before shoot through every part of his body at once, and he let out a high-pitched gasp as all the wind was knocked out of him. Realizing that he couldn't move, he looked back at himself stiffly…and saw the sharp end of a thick, jagged tree branch protruding from his side, covered on every surface with his own precious lifeblood. Head spinning in shock, he looked up slowly as Scimitar stalked up to him, stopping only inches away.

"Get out of **that** one." the wolf said in a threatening, cold voice, not grinning or taunting in any way as he did.

Then, ignoring the blood streaming down his face from the fresh slash through his eye, he turned and walked away down the riverbank, vanishing from sight around the bend moments later. Feeling his body slowly growing numb, Kagetora gritted his teeth and with a howl of agony, pulled himself off the tree branch, having to stop once and then start again when the pain became unbearable. Once he was free of it, he stood for a moment, looking down at the dead bodies around him, took two steps, and then collapsed, landing on his side with an almost insignificant 'THUD'. His eyelids felt heavy, and when he opened them again, the world was sideways and he felt the numbness spreading all over his body. Then he saw movement, and looking closer with his fading vision, saw multiple forms running at him from what seemed like far away. All too soon though, they had reached him, and he heard Ken's voice yelling out his name.

"Kage!" Ken shouted, limping to a halt beside him and allowing room for Kurotura to as well. "Hang on!"

Inside, the Great Dane felt like he was falling. He, Kurotura, and Shigure had been pulled from the river by Gin and Akame, who had pursued Scimitar after ensuring the safety of the females in Gajou, and they had immediately told them about Kagetora's heroic rescue and that he was now alone with the dangerous wolf. Knowing that Kagetora would never run from a fight, they had rushed back to where they'd fallen in and when they had gotten there, Ken had seen the Kai dog on the ground on his side, and with Scimitar nowhere in sight, he had feared the worst. Now that he knew the awful truth, he wished he had been faster. Kurotura shook his son with a paw.

"Kagetora!" he said loudly. "Open your eyes! Please!"

The younger Kai dog did just that and Ken heard him take a ragged breath as Akame stepped up and looked at his wound. Then he saw the ninja dog wince openly and clench his eyes shut, stiffening up and shaking his head sadly at Gin, who closed his eyes as well in sorrow. Ken shook his head.

"No…" he said. "No! Kagetora, you fight, you hear me?! You fight through this!"

His friend looked up at him with tired, almost playful eyes.

"Sorry…about…kn-knocking you in the river…Ken…" he said softly. "I saw you were…hurt and I wasn't…gonna let a-another friend almost die…in front of me…"

"You listen to me," Ken said, feeling totally helpless. "You hang on! You just saved my life, Kage, and you can't die before I return the favor! I won't let you!"

"I hit him…Ken…" Kagetora responded and Ken straightened up.

"What?" he asked and Kagetora laughed, coughing up blood painfully seconds later, making Gin rest a paw on his flank comfortingly.

"Scimitar…" the Kai dog said. "I…scarred him…Now he's got a…a matching set of those eyes of his…"

"You really scarred him?" Ken asked in amazement, somehow smiling despite himself.

"Heh…you should've…seen the…the look on the motherfucker's face, Ken…" Kagetora grinned, eyes half closed. "It was…a thing of beauty…"

The two best friends both managed to laugh at the words, and Kurotura looked very proud despite his fear, but then Kagetora's breath got shallow, and the light began to fade from his eyes. Ken panicked.

"Kage?" he said. "Kage?! Hang on! Just keep talking to me! We'll get you help!"

Kagetora looked up at him and shook his head with a smile.

"You can't, Ken..." he said and Ken felt his tears start falling. "You just can't…"

"No!" Kurotura barked sternly at him, looking terrified and cradling his head in his paws. "You're a Kai dog, and you're my son! You fight and fight and fight through this, you hear me?! We never surrender to anything!"

"Dad…"

"We don't **ever** surrender!"

"I love you too, Dad…" Kagetora said and Kurotura dropped his head onto his son's neck, looking heartbroken and not bothering to try and stop his tears now as Shigure stood behind him helplessly.

Kagetora looked up at Ken again.

"Do me a…a favor, Ken…" he breathed. "Make sure…that that bastard…doesn't get away…"

"He won't." Ken responded shakily, but with fierce determination in his voice. "I **swear** it."

Then Kagetora smiled contentedly and Ken saw the light almost gone from his eyes. His friend's smile became a grin and he held Ken's gaze.

"You never could…keep up with me…Ken." he teased. "So I'm going on ahead… I'll meet you there…"

Ken almost didn't have the emotional strength left to respond but he swallowed hard and forced words out.

"I'll hold you to that." he smiled back and Kagetora looked around at the group of them.

"I'm sorry…" he whispered. "I was…reckless…Tell everyone…it's… been…my…honor……"

Then he let out a last, ragged breath and his head slumped to the ground as he closed his eyes forever. Kagetora of Kai was dead. For a moment, Ken couldn't move. None of it seemed real to him and it was only the sound of Kurotura breaking down sobbing that finally brought reality crashing down onto his head. Unable to hold back his tears, Ken stumbled forward, limping on his broken leg after Scimitar's scent. Suddenly, he felt someone restraining him and saw Akame when he looked back.

"Get off me!" he barked, though it came out sounding like a whimper. "I'll kill him! I'll kill that son-of-a-bitch! I'll k-kill him…"

Then Akame laid his neck across Ken's comfortingly, embracing him with his front leg as he let out a mournful howl in his best friend's memory. Looking back at Kurotura, he saw Gin restraining him as well, hugging his friend to him and preventing him from getting up. Kurotura, for his part, was trying desperately to get to his feet to do what Ken had attempted and pursue Scimitar.

"Kuro," Gin was saying, tears coming from his eyes as well. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. Scimitar's gone, it won't do any good."

"He murdered my son!" the Kai dog sobbed. "He murdered my fucking son! I'm gonna rip him apart!"

"He'll pay, Kuro!" Gin said insistently. "I promise you as a friend, he'll pay for this! But we still have a war to win, and we can do the most good helping defend back at Gajou!"

Kurotura looked up at him, looking unsure of what to say.

"We'll take Kagetora back there." Gin said comfortingly. "We'll take him home."

Finally, the Kai dog nodded and once Gin had let him up, he walked over and gently picked up Kagetora's body, slinging it over his back. Then, with Ken being supported by Shigure, the five dogs made their way back down the riverbank, back towards their besieged home.

* * *

Daigo checked the barrel of his rifle carefully, making sure for the third time that everything was in working order before they headed out. Once he was convinced that it was, he lit another cigarette and shoved the lighter roughly in his pocket. As he did, one of his group members, a man named Kanaye, walked past, shouldering his own rifle as he did.

"You really should quit those things, you know." he chided, throwing a box of supplies into the back of the Jeep they would be driving into the mountains of Futago Pass. "They're gonna kill you one day."

Daigo blew smoke and squeezed the trigger of his gun a few times to test it.

"Let 'em." he responded. "Life's getting boring anyway."

"That's the spirit." Kanaye scoffed as more members of their hunting team loaded supplies into another truck in front of theirs.

"Yeah, well…" Daigo said, standing up as he tossed his rifle into the Jeep's trunk. "We're not getting paid enough for me to be cheerful doing this."

"Hey, we get to shoot some mutts, right?" Kanaye said. "That'll cheer you up."

"Somehow," Daigo answered as they both got into the vehicle and closed their doors. "I doubt it."

Kanaye shrugged and started the engine.

"Suit yourself, boss." he said and followed the truck in front of them as it pulled out onto the main road.

Daigo looked ahead through the front window at the winding road into the mountains. Then he tossed his cigarette out the window and ran a hand through his hair. The way into the heart of Futago Pass was only a couple minutes ahead, and at the rate they were moving, it wouldn't take them long at all to get there.

**---**


	14. Retribution

**Author's Note: **This is probably the longest, bloodiest chapter in the story, so consider yourself warned. It came out very well though, I think, so please read and review.

**---**

Jerome ran quickly along the riverbank, dirt and snow being kicked up by his paws as they flew over the ground, and his eyes darted in every direction as they looked for their target. Ronin had run further down the river than Jerome had expected, and he had lost sight of him around a bend only moments ago, but he was determined to stick with him, to prove that Gin's trust in him had not been misplaced. The Shepard went over a hill and then ran around another curve in the canyon, nearly slipping into the fast-moving water as he increased his speed more.

'Where the hell is he?' Jerome thought. 'I was right behind him!'

Suddenly, as he was passing a large rock on his right, his senses went wild and he just barely leapt aside in time as powerful jaws snapped shut right where his face would've been had he kept the same path. Lunging after him, Ronin bit at him again and then slashed at the only available escape route for Jerome, forcing the Shepard to make a powerful leap out across the river, landing just barely on the other side, panting as he turned to face his opponent. Ronin straightened up as he glared at him and then began pacing back and forth in an arrogant swagger.

"You're lucky you we're an assassin." he hissed in a snake-like voice. "Two more steps and you would've had no face left."

"You said you wanted no witnesses, Ronin." Jerome growled, locking gazes with him. "Well here you go. We're alone. Now let's end this."

"Fine by me." Ronin said. "This time you don't have Gin to save you."

"The only one he saved last time was **you**." the Shepard said. "I've survived enemies far worse than you could ever be."

"And yet you chased me this far." the Malamute responded. "Why would you do that if I'm no threat to you?"

"Because you're a threat to others." Jerome said angrily. "And because you deserve to be punished for what you've done. What you did to those dogs in Hokkaido, what you did to Hook, gouging out his eyes like that."

Ronin tilted his head with an almost surprised smile and Jerome growled again.

"Yeah," the Shepard said. "I knew it was you. Scimitar may have given you the order to hurt him, but gouging out his eyes was all you. You did it to all of the dogs you killed before this started, you bastard. It was like your signature move. That's why they called you Ronin the Butcher."

Ronin flashed him a triumphant smirk.

"Good boy." he grinned. "I wondered if anyone would ever put it together. And doesn't it kill you that you could've stopped it? You Ohu dogs are all the same. You're arrogance and stupidity wrapped up in nobleness and strength. You think you're better than everyone and that made you easy to manipulate. All I had to do was get a tear in my eye and pretend I was sorry, pretend I was afraid. That was all it took to get you to show your collective weakness and spare me. And you know what? I'm glad. It gave me a chance to have my fun."

Jerome narrowed his gaze hatefully and dug his claws into the ground below him in anger. Ronin snorted.

"Oh don't look so put out, Jerome." he said, putting a sarcastic emphasis on the Shepard's name. "We both knew that they had it coming, all of them. Don't treat their deaths like some sort of tragedy when they meant **nothing**. They all died exactly how they lived: worthlessly."

Anger surged in Jerome the like of which he hadn't felt in years, and images of Hook flashed through his head, of the guilt that had tormented Weed after he let the monstrous dog live. Enough was enough. Without thinking, he lunged at the Malamute with a snarl of rage…and nearly ended the battle right there. Ronin let out a triumphant laugh and leapt into the air as well, and as they met in midair over the rushing river, Jerome felt Ronin kick him downwards towards the water below, and he almost panicked. Utilizing his assassin training and speed, though, he kicked off of Ronin as he tried to leap away, using him like a springboard and aiming for a large rock protruding from the river's deadly current. When he reached it, he bounded off of it with a powerful kick and landed almost in the exact same spot he had started in. On the other shore, Ronin looked over at him, then glanced down at the small cuts in his side that Jerome had caused with his claws. The Malamute snorted.

"What do you know?" he said smugly. "This might actually be a challenge."

Jerome tensed his limbs up and readied himself silently, his teeth bared and his gaze murderous. For a moment, they just stared at each other, mentally sizing one another up and looking for weaknesses they could exploit. Then, with a sanctimonious little smirk, Ronin suddenly bolted down the riverbank back the way they'd come. Jerome leapt after him, pumping his legs quickly to match the other dog's speed.

'Here we go.' he thought as he saw Ronin getting ready to make his move. 'Here we go…'

* * *

Scimitar let out a hiss as he walked, the cliff edge just far enough away for him to feel at ease. He had exited the canyon only minutes ago and had made his way back up to its top, reentering the forest that surrounded Gajou and moving slowly back towards the great stone structure. He could faintly hear the sounds of the battle from where he was now and when he heard a particularly loud shriek of agony come from its direction, he snorted and grinned triumphantly, marveling at what he had started. As soon as he did, he felt blood erupt from his nostrils again and spatter on the ground below, making him suddenly feel lightheaded, a sensation he was not used to.

"FUCK!" he screamed in fury, wiping at the streaming red liquid with his paw.

If only he had more time. With his body deteriorating as fast as it was, Scimitar doubted that he would have the opportunity to kill all the Ohu dogs, like he wanted to. Some of them would live if he didn't find a way to accelerate the process. He was concentrating so hard on his thoughts as he walked that he nearly missed what was on his left. When he finally saw it, he stopped dead in his tracks. Human belongings and tools lay scattered in a small clearing only feet away, and their strewn and haphazard appearance told him that whatever humans had owned them had left in a hurry, possibly after hearing the fight start over at Gajou. He felt instinctively uneasy as he spotted two guns lying forgotten in the dirt, and mentally decided that it had been a small hunting party of some kind. That feeling faded, though, as something else suddenly caught his interest more. In the dead center of it all roared a large fire, probably set to keep the humans warm from the biting wind, and it continued to hiss and crackle threateningly within its boundaries as he looked at it. Then Scimitar felt a grin spread over his muzzle. Moving silently, he stalked up to the fire and then stopped when he was only inches away. For a moment, he just stared at it, the flickering orange light dancing in his bloodshot eyes. Then he tilted his head and looked towards the sounds of the battle in the distance, licking the blood from his fangs triumphantly as he suddenly saw a way that he could still win. Scimitar smiled.

"Here's to Paradise." he said softly.

Then he whirled and kicked hard at the fire with his hind legs, sending burning pieces of wood flying into the underbrush nearby. Moments later, it all erupted in flames with a sinister 'WHOOSH', igniting the low hanging branches above it as it did, and then spread quickly to nearby trees as the dry timber fed its hunger. Though it had worked better than he'd hoped, the fire's liberator only watched for a moment. Then, with a satisfied grin traced on his lips, Scimitar the Kinslayer walked away.

* * *

Tesshin stood at the ready, his powerful body statuesque as he stared into the dimming light amongst the trees, his highly tuned senses waiting for any sign of movement. He had heard the battle start over at Gajou, and hoped silently that his friends who were there were okay. The noises that floated to their ears from the battle zone were the only source of news he had to go on, and judging by what he'd heard thus far, it was a stalemate, and it was bloody. He hoped Gin and the others could push the tide in their favor, because if they got in trouble, then they were alone. He and his group were about to have problems of their own to deal with. Beside him on one side stood Izou and Suzaku, both of them keeping the troops behind them at ease, and on the other stood Sasuke, who as one of the pack's smallest members seemed a little out of place beside the larger soldier dogs around him. Still, Tesshin was glad that he was with them. Sasuke may not have been much of a fighter, but he was determined, and was trusted by everyone there. To Tesshin's left, Suzaku glanced at Izou.

"Anything?" he breathed quietly and Izou shook his head.

"Not yet." his fellow Husky answered. "But they're there. Be on your guard."

"Shh!" Tesshin hushed them suddenly.

Frowning, the ninja dog lowered his head and put his ear to the ground, listening for anything that would give their enemy's position away as the silence around them seemed to thicken, occasionally broken by the yells and howls from the Gajou battlefield. Then he heard a low, steady rumble begin and as it got gradually louder, Tesshin lifted his head again, watching as small stones in the dirt beneath them jumped and danced back and forth with the vibrations from the growing noise. Tesshin glanced at his comrades.

"This is it." he said, dropping into a battle stance. "Get ready!"

All the dogs behind him prepared themselves as well and looking forward, Tesshin saw dark silhouetted forms growing larger with the rumble as they moved swiftly through the trees towards them.

"If anyone sees Takeshi, yell for me!" he commanded loudly. "None of you can take him on!"

Then he glanced over his shoulder at them all.

"Let's give these bastards a fight they'll remember!" he yelled and everyone there yelled back in support.

Then, as he saw the enemy dogs get to almost within striking distance, their fangs dripping and bared, Tesshin charged. Almost as if they had been tuned into his thoughts, his comrades charged at the exact same moment, right as their opponents reached them with howls and snarls of bloodlust. Then it began. Tesshin dodged left and right in between enemy dogs, slashing his fangs back and forth and feeling almost no resistance as flesh tore and ripped open in their wake. His ninja dog senses were in high gear, and he used the tree trunks around him as tools, ricocheting off them in mid-lunge and tearing an enemy dog's side clean open before leaping to another one. Across from him, he saw Tsukikage, one of his Koga subordinates and friends, doing the same as him, and already enemy dogs were falling rapidly to their combined assault.

As he landed though, Tesshin was tackled by a whole group of opponents and was forced to take the fight back to the ground, biting the leg clean off one of them and using his scream of pain as a distraction to knock the others aside and get away. Looking over at his comrades, he saw Izou fighting 2 dogs at once and Suzaku beside him doing the same. Tesshin's fellow Koga dogs were battling alongside the two Huskies' respective packs, and though their combined strength gave them an advantage, the enemy dogs were holding their own and the fight was getting fiercer by the second.

"Tesshin!"

Tesshin's head whipped around on his shoulders towards the source of the shout, which had sounded frightened and urgent. He found it just in time to see Sasuke, who was running towards him as fast as his legs would move, get tackled from above, stumbling as the sudden weight on his back became too much for his limbs to handle. He saw immediately that it was Takeshi, but had no time to react as the evil ninja dog grabbed Sasuke by the ear with his teeth and threw him hard at a tree, ripping it clean off as he did. Tesshin watched as Sasuke bounced off the tree's trunk hard and landed in a heap, whining and yelling in pain as he pawed at the bloody stump that used to be his ear, and he quickly leapt to his aid, landing in front of him protectively as Takeshi almost casually tore the throat out of another Koga dog as he tried to intervene as well. Only then, afterwards, did he finally notice Tesshin. As soon as he did, Takeshi jumped high into the air, springing off a nearby tree and coming to rest on one of it's low hanging branches. Tesshin looked up at him murderously as their gazes met, and the other dog's very presence seemed to inflame his rage. Behind him, he heard Izou approach, throwing off an opponent and kicking him into another as he did. Without taking his eyes off Takeshi, Tesshin tilted his head towards the Husky.

"Get Sasuke out of here!" he said in an inarguable tone and Izou simply nodded and picked up the Shiba Inu gently, helping to support him as they moved quickly away.

Then the two ninja dogs were alone, the battle around them having moved back through the trees towards Gajou. For a moment, neither one said a word. Then Takeshi smirked, leaning against the trunk of the tree he was in.

"You look exactly the same as I remember you, Tesh." he said. "It's been a long time."

Tesshin's eyes flashed angrily as he heard the other dog's voice, and that alone brought back memories that he had tried to suppress. He shook his head as he stared at him.

"I knew you were a monster, Takeshi," he growled. "But this is beyond anything even **I** thought you were capable of! Do you have any idea what Scimitar's planning to do?!"

"You think I care?" the other dog answered. "He can kill every dog in the world for all I care. What matters to me is that I've got you right where I want you."

"If you think for one second I won't kill you for what you've done, then you are massively underestimating me!" Tesshin spat, fighting to control his temper. "Those dogs you killed did **nothing** to you! You're twisted and evil and you've always been a disgrace to the Koga clan! Killing you would be justice and I swear to god I would do it in a heartbeat!"

Takeshi snorted lightly.

"I think you really mean that." he said tauntingly. "Heh. Your father would be proud…or so I'm told."

Tesshin nearly winced. The words stung badly, because it was only then that he realized the full extent of his own hatred. What made it worse was that the insult about his father was not altogether untrue, and his anger intensified as a result. Remembering Jerome's words to him to not become what he fought, he mentally calmed himself and tried not to let the other ninja dog know that he was getting to him. Takeshi walked back out to the more narrow part of the branch he stood on.

"You're right, though." he said, sounding completely serious. "They did me no wrong. I had nothing against them at all, Tesshin. **You** were the one who wronged me. I guess they just had to pay for it."

"How did I wrong you in **any** way?!" Tesshin growled.

"By being Chourou's favorite!" Takeshi suddenly snarled violently, and Tesshin held his breath, sensing that the evil dog was finally telling the truth. "You were the son of Kurojaki, the adopted son of Gin of Ohu! You were **always** put above the rest of us, given more opportunities simply because of who you were! I could have **led** the Koga ninja dogs if anyone would've given me a chance, but they didn't! All they ever saw was **you**! Because of that, you became the great Tesshin of Koga and I was left with **nothing**!"

Tesshin's jaw dropped, words nearly failing him.

"Y-You did all this because of a childhood grudge?!" he howled in fury. "You killed all those dogs because you were fucking overlooked?!"

"I did it because I enjoyed it." Takeshi responded bitingly. "Every last second. And now…it's your turn."

Tesshin dropped back into his battle stance. He had never been so angry in his life. All those lives wasted because of something so **trivial**. He bared his teeth at the other ninja dog as Takeshi did the same to him, neither one making a move. Then, as if he couldn't wait any longer, Takeshi leapt out of the tree, flying with a roar right at his opponent. Tesshin tensed, feeling his powerful legs responding instantly to his commands as he crouched lower to get more height in his jump. Then, as Takeshi was nearly on him, Tesshin lunged.

* * *

Lydia trembled as she stared at the scene before her. Tears slid down her furred cheeks and burst apart on the cold stone beneath her paws as she looked at the body that had been brought into the cave only moments ago, the body that had once been Kagetora. When Gin, Akame, Ken, Shigure, and Kurotura had arrived, the latter carrying the younger Kai dog's body on his back, they had laid him gently on the ground by the wall, treating him almost like a sleeping pup, before reluctantly turning away. Shigure and Kurotura had gone back outside to help with the fight, a newfound determination present in both of them, and the others had stayed behind, the two elder dogs talking to each other urgently as Ken laid down by Kagetora to rest his obviously broken leg. Lydia, though, couldn't take her eyes off of the body of her friend. Somehow she had known who was responsible for it the minute she'd seen him.

"That monster…" she said in a furious, shaky voice. "That horrible, evil monster! How did it happen?!"

Ken didn't answer her, but he wouldn't have had a chance to anyway, because at that moment, Weed leapt through the entrance, spattered with blood from snout to tail and looking worried. He met their gazes as he saw them.

"Father," he said, looking at Gin. "Is everyone here all right? We've managed to drive them away from Gajou a little."

"Weed – " Gin started to say.

"And do you have any idea where Scimitar – " Weed started to say, but then he looked over at the wall and his eyes fixed on Kagetora. " – went…"

Ignoring his father's protests, Weed walked over slowly to his friend's body, looking as if he didn't quite believe what he saw. When he finally saw the horrible truth clearly, his legs gave way beneath him.

"No…" Weed moaned in horror, falling onto his stomach on the cave floor. "Oh god, no…"

"Leader," Akame said quietly, walking up beside him. "I'm sorry, but – "

"D-Did Scimitar do this?!" Weed asked in a weak voice, tears beginning to come from his eyes.

Akame didn't respond as suddenly Mel ran into the cave, panting and looking frightened.

"Leader!" he said urgently. "We have a problem! The forest around Gajou is on fire!"

"What?!" Gin barked in shock. "Are you sure?!"

"Yes, Gin-sama." Mel responded with an emphatic nod. "And it's spreading fast. It's headed this way and into the area where Tesshin and his troops are! What are your orders, leader?"

The last question was directed at Weed, but the younger Akita didn't even respond as he stayed by Kagetora's limp form.

"Leader!" Mel barked louder. "What do we do?"

Weed snapped out of his reverie and stood shakily.

"I – I – " he stammered, clearly overwhelmed.

"Hold your ground." Gin jumped in commandingly. "There's not much directly around Gajou itself for the fire to burn, so everyone stay close to Gajou and hold. your. ground. How are we doing outside?"

"I'm not sure, Gin-sama." Mel admitted. "We seem to be turning the tide, but we've lost a lot of good dogs, including Kin."

Reika let out a noise that was halfway between a scream and a sob at that news, and Mel clapped his paw to his muzzle in shock.

"Oh god," he said. "Reika, I'm sorry, I thought – "

"Get back outside and tell them to keep defending our home!" Gin said loudly and Mel nodded as Reika broke down crying, with Koyuki trying to comfort her.

Then Gin whirled on Weed.

"Weed, I'm sorry about Kagetora." he said, clearly more sad than angry. "Believe me I am. But you're the leader! Those dogs' lives depend on you, so in situations like this you need to act like one!"

Weed straightened up and glared at him.

"You don't think I know that?!" he shouted suddenly. "I know what's at stake, father, you don't need to lecture me! Especially now!"

"Clearly I do because otherwise **you** would've given those orders! Not me!" Gin yelled back.

Akame jumped in between them as they turned to fully face each other.

"Stop it!" he barked, but Weed didn't listen.

"Fine!" Weed yelled at Gin, looking alternately anguished and furious. "FINE! You want leadership, Dad?! Here's some! Keep fighting off Scimitar's forces until you beat them once and for all, and then gather everyone together around Gajou and take shelter from the fire in here! Meanwhile, I'll go find that son-of-a-bitch and kill him! Is **that** good enough for you?!"

Then he whirled and leapt back out the entrance as Gin shouted his name repeatedly after him, the expression on his face one of combined anger, guilt, and hurt. Then he turned to Akame, who had been holding him back.

"Akame," he said, sounding tired and sad. "Help Kurotura, George, and the others outside end the battle quickly. I'm going to get Jerome down by the river. Hopefully Tesshin and his group can finish their fight and get back here soon too."

The old ninja dog nodded, then dropped his head a little and looked at his friend gently.

"Gin," he said. "Weed's just overwhelmed. He loves you. Just give it some time and you'll both be fine later. I know it."

Gin didn't respond and quickly ran out the entrance, heading for the river immediately. Then Akame, after pausing for a moment to look after him, departed as well, leaving Ken, Lydia, Koyuki, and Reika alone in the cave, able to do nothing but wait.

* * *

Jerome saw Ronin jump up onto the cliff face again, leaping from one rock to another with the skill of an assassin dog and getting higher and higher off the ground as he did. The Shepard matched him move for move on the other side of the river, and when they got high enough, both pushed off from their respective walls and lunged at each other. As they met in mid-air, Jerome slashed at Ronin with his fangs and felt them connect with his opponents shoulder. Then he felt a sharp pain in his own shoulder and they both fell to earth, landing on their paws on opposite sides once more.

Not bothering to slow down, Jerome leapt at him again and found out immediately that Ronin had been faster. Twisting to avoid the Malamute's fangs, he fell as he landed, coming to rest near a rock on his own side of the river. Then Ronin was on him. Closing his jaws around the side of the Shepard's neck, Ronin bit hard and began repeatedly slamming Jerome's head into the rock's jagged surface, cutting his scalp and making blood stain the stone, the spatter growing larger with each consecutive hit. Jerome grunted in pain at each impact, but suddenly grabbed Ronin by the ear and pulled as hard as he could, feeling immense pain in his neck as he did. Ronin screamed in pain as his ear was torn off, but instead of slowing down, he went at Jerome again.

The Shepard dodged left and right, avoiding the Malamute's bites, and smacking him to the ground with his paw. When he dove on him and tried to bite his neck, he didn't get a good grip, and Ronin rolled them so he was on top. Then, unable to bite Jerome back, the evil dog began kicking between the Shepard's hind legs with his own hind leg, causing Jerome to yelp in pain and release his bite. Before Ronin could bite at his throat though, Jerome jumped away, moving despite the pain from his wounds. As he did, his opponent connected his sharp fangs with his side, tearing large, deep slashes in it as Jerome's own momentum worked against him, causing the Shepard to land with a painful 'THUD' on his back on the ground. When Ronin leaped at him again, trying to take advantage of this, he took a page from their previous fight and kicked at him with his hind legs, once again connecting with the Malamute's lower jaw. Immediately rolling to his paws as Ronin fell in a heap, Jerome grabbed him by the side and threw him at the river, knowing that the river's fast flowing current would probably be the end of him. Unfortunately, right before he released his jaws and sent Ronin flying, the evil dog managed to twist and bite Jerome right on the muzzle. The momentum from his attempted throw kept them moving, though, and suddenly Jerome found himself falling into the river along with his enemy, the water engulfing him with a loud 'SPLASH'.

Kicking madly, Jerome managed to surface with a gasp, looking around at where they were. The current was much faster than he had thought, and all the rocks from here on out were underwater, so they couldn't be used to leap off of and to safety. Where was Ronin? Suddenly, he felt pain in his hind leg and yelped as something pulled him down, submerging him once more. Caught off guard, he felt himself get flipped over underwater and managed to see Ronin's face through a haze just before the Malamute's paw stomped down on his neck, and he was used as a living floatation device for the evil dog. Feeling his head bouncing right and left off underwater rocks, Jerome gasped in pain and felt water fill his mouth, causing him to choke and cough for air. Panicking, dazed, and still unable to get Ronin off him, Jerome thought of Lydia… and the family he was going to have.

'No!' he thought. 'I won't die here!'

Desperately, he pushed off of Ronin's underside, making himself go deeper, but giving Ronin nothing to stand on. Then he kicked off the river's bottom and surfaced with a sputtering gasp, coughing up water painfully as Ronin fought the current futilely near him. Suddenly, Jerome looked over and saw a dog running alongside them on the shoreline. When he saw who it was, he gasped.

"Jerome!" the dog yelled urgently.

"Gin!" he shouted back. "Why are you here?"

"The waterfall's up ahead!" Gin responded, not answering him. "You need to get out of there now!"

The Akita ripped a branch off one of the trees growing out of the rock face beside him and rushed to the water's edge, dangling it over top of it.

"Jerome!" he shouted again. "Grab on!"

Jerome stretched mightily and managed to just barely bite down on the branch. Once he had, Gin began directing him to shore with it. Suddenly, though, Jerome felt something land on his back and looked up just in time to see Ronin bite down hard on the back of his neck. Wincing in pain, Jerome saw Gin struggling to hold the branch as they rounded a corner in the river…and saw the waterfall right there. The Shepard yelled in pain as Ronin slowly bit harder and tore deep slashes in his flesh. He heard the Malamute laugh.

"There's another scar for your collection!" he said and Jerome growled.

Then, as if on cue, he finally saw a rock that was protruding from the water's surface right near them and, steeling his will, let go of the branch long enough to slam Ronin head first into it. The impact caused the Malamute to lose his grip and Jerome saw him grab onto the rock desperately at the same time he did. Getting enough of a grip on the rock to gain his footing somewhat, Jerome stamped down on the Ronin's paw and looked him right in the face.

"Here's one for yours." he growled.

Then he bit down on the top of Ronin's face as hard as he could, hearing a horrible scream as the Malamute's flesh tore free, taking both of his eyes with it. Then Ronin fell back off the rock and was swept towards the waterfall, gaining speed in the water. Jerome watched long enough to see him hit a group of razor-sharp rocks and get torn literally in half by them, the current sweeping what was left of him over the side seconds later, one piece at a time. Wincing in pain, Jerome grabbed back onto the branch Gin was holding and kicked his way to shore. Once he had, Gin pulled hard and yanked the Shepard up onto land, his fur soaked, dripping both water and blood onto the ground below.

"Are you all right?" Gin asked and Jerome met his gaze exhaustedly.

"I hate rivers." he said and Gin couldn't help but smile slightly, knowing he would be okay.

Then, without waiting for Gin to explain anything, Jerome followed him as he bounded back towards Gajou, both eager to end the war and see their friends and home safe once more.

* * *

Tesshin leapt to another branch as he dodged, narrowly avoiding the sharp stick that Takeshi had thrown at him like a javelin, and gained higher ground as he did. He narrowed his eyes, feeling them watering from the smoke. The fire had seemed to come out of nowhere and had already engulfed the entire forest around them. Tesshin could feel its intense heat on all sides even as he traded blows and slashes with his former ninja dog comrade, and the smoke that it was causing was making it hard to breathe. He could still hold out for a while longer though, and he looked around to try and find his opponent.

He saw Takeshi leaping at him from another tree and he met the evil dog in midair, biting him hard on the side of the shoulder and driving his paw equally as hard into his ribs. The Shikoku-ken/Husky mix took the blow though and leveled him across the face with his own paw, ripping slashes in his neck with his fangs as he did. Tesshin ricocheted off a tree trunk and kicked Takeshi in the stomach with his hind legs, knocking the air out of him and sending him to the ground below with a painful sounding 'THUD'. When he jumped down as well, though, landing gracefully despite the fire, a burning branch broke off from the tree above him and fell with a sinister crackling sound, forcing Tesshin to leap sideways to safety quickly…right next to Takeshi.

The evil ninja dog bit him on the face and ripped three bloody slashes in his cheek with his fangs. Then he drove his paw into his throat and threw him as hard as he could into a nearby tree, knocking all the wind clean out of him as he did. Choking and gasping for air, his eyes burning, Tesshin grimaced in pain as he saw Takeshi walk up to him, a sadistic grin plastered on his muzzle.

"Tesshin," he panted. "Did you know that there's a cluster of nerves right where your neck meets your shoulders? Right here?"

He gestured to it on himself, making sure that Tesshin saw him as the other finally began catching his breath.

"Now, what do you think happens when you puncture it?"

Tesshin growled, trying to force himself to stand faster and not succeeding.

"I don't either." Takeshi said as if Tesshin had answered him. "Let's find out!"

Then he hit Tesshin across the face, making his head snap to the side, and bit him hard right on the neck, exactly where the nerves were. A shockwave of pain hit Tesshin all at once and the fierce ninja dog of Ohu, who very rarely lost his cool in a fight, screamed loudly in agony, trying unsuccessfully to throw Takeshi off of him. Takeshi let go himself seconds later though, and Tesshin found himself flying through the air once more. The next thing he registered was hitting a second tree hard and coming to rest on the ground in a heap, his shoulder throbbing and blood streaming from numerous wounds. He sensed Takeshi rushing him again, and steeling his will, Tesshin forced himself to his paws and leapt out of the way, making Takeshi's jaws close down on the same tree trunk he had hit moments before instead.

Before Takeshi could release his bite, Tesshin kicked his lower jaw with his hind legs as hard as he could, and he heard a whine of pain as all of Takeshi's main fangs snapped off in the hard wood of the tree. Before he could do anything to end the fight though, Tesshin heard another loud 'CRACK' and looked up in time to see a second large burning branch hit him right in the face, sending him crumpled to the ground. Bleeding profusely, his vision hazy, and his head spinning, Tesshin pushed himself to his stomach and looked up to see Takeshi advancing on him.

"T-Takeshi…" he slurred. "I'm giving you this one chance to surrender. Take it."

"Never!" the Shikoku-ken/Husky mix snarled. "One of us dies today, Tesshin, and it's going to be you! You're helpless! There's nothing you can do to kill me now!"

Tesshin was about to answer, then looked up above his opponent's head. He snorted.

"I don't have to kill you, Takeshi." he said as a loud, ominous cracking noise sounded from very nearby. "I just don't have to save you."

Takeshi looked confused and opened his muzzle to respond, but suddenly the tree to his left, which was fully engulfed in flames and very large, came crashing down right on top of him, and Takeshi looked up at it in fear long enough to register what was happening before it landed right on him with a sickening 'CRUNCH' and he disappeared underneath tons of burning wood and licking, scalding flames. The fight was over. Tesshin panted, still too dizzy to stand straight and feeling more blood start flowing from the fresh slash through his right eye, which he suspected made him look very much like his father. There was no way he was getting out of here alive. Suddenly, he felt someone lifting him to his feet forcibly and steadying him as he stood, and before he knew what was happening, he was being half-escorted, half-dragged back away from the fiercer part of the fire towards Gajou. When he looked over at his rescuer, his vision coming back slowly in his newly scarred eye, he was shocked to see a familiar Shiba Inu.

"S-Sasuke?" he asked in confusion. "W-What – ?"

The smaller dog, now sans one ear, looked up at him with a smile.

"Even ninja dogs need help sometimes, Tesshin." he said. "You saved my life before. I'm just returning the favor."

Tesshin felt a happy grin spread over his muzzle and he rested more of his weight on his friend.

"Thank you." he managed to say weakly.

Then, with Sasuke supporting him, Tesshin headed back home to help the rest of his friends, leaving the last demon of his past burning in the fire in his wake.

* * *

Weed felt his anger growing with each passing moment as he ascended the side of Gajou, jumping from rock to rock and quickly nearing its apex. Images of Kagetora filled his mind; of the home they loved that now burned more ferociously than anything he'd ever seen, as if the heaven's themselves wanted it all to melt away. Suddenly, as he reached the top, hearing the combined noise of the battle below and the flames around him, he saw a figure standing on the edge of one of the highest rocks, a figure that would've been nothing but a silhouette in the dim light if not for the fire, which lit up his face just enough to see it. When Weed saw him, he felt a rush of hatred go through him and he froze, only feet away. Scimitar… The wolf took a deep breath, breathing in the smoke.

"Isn't it beautiful?" he asked, his normally soft, cold voice now coming out as an almost musical rasp. "The fire? Once it's unleashed, anything can burn…even your Utopia. So how about you join me?"

He looked over his shoulder at Weed, his once icy blue eyes now glazed and almost totally blood red.

"We can witness the end of an age…" he finished in a malevolent singsong voice.

Weed didn't move and locked gazes with him, and it was impossible to tell which face showed more hatred. Scimitar smirked, and stared at him a long time before finally saying one last thing.

"Hello Weed." he said. "Welcome home."

**---**


	15. The Last Of The Watchers

**Author's Note: **Remember what I said about the last chapter being the bloodiest? Well, this one gives it a run for its money so again, consider yourselves warned. This chapter took a lot of work, but I like the end result, so please read and review! Thanks!

**---**

In the years that followed, what happened next would become an Ohu legend, becoming perhaps as well known as Gin's defeat of the demon bear Akakabuto. Fighting below, Akame, Kurotura, George, Kyoushiro, Rocket, and Joe, who had been holding their ground against Scimitar's forces, looked up just in time to see it begin. Jerome and Gin did as well, having just arrived back from the river to help, and Tesshin and Sasuke, who had stumbled out of the burning forest only moments before, saw what happened clearly in the light from the fire.

High above, on the top of Gajou, they saw Weed lunge at Scimitar faster than anyone had ever seen him move, looking more like his grandfather Riki in his rage than himself, and tackle the warlord head on, biting hard into his neck and shoulder as they flew backwards off their perch. Then the two leaders tumbled down the side of the great rock fortress in a snarling tangle of limbs, bouncing off boulders as they went, and landed at the bottom in a thrashing heap, throwing each other off as soon as they'd regained their senses. Almost instantly, Weed was at Scimitar's throat again. He slashed at his opponent left and right with his fangs as hard and fast as he could, landing only a few glancing hits as Scimitar dodged back and forth, dancing and weaving from side to side and making his opponent's jaws close on empty air. Still, Weed didn't let up for a second. He barely remembered even attacking the warlord. All he knew was that he wanted to make the monstrous wolf **pay** for what he had done…once and for all.

For one of the first times in his life, Weed wanted another dog to die. He had killed others in the past by necessity, but had usually regretted it afterwards, wondering if they could've changed had they been shown kindness and mercy in place of violence and death. But Scimitar was different. He had never once shown any remorse for the lives he'd taken, the families he'd ruined. On the contrary, he had seemed from the start to derive great enjoyment out of watching the suffering of others, whether they were male or female, pup or elder, big or small. It had never mattered to him. And unlike others Weed had faced, such as Hougen and Victor, who had committed their crimes out of a selfish need for power and control, Scimitar had committed his for no other reason than his own pleasure, his own sadistic need to stain the earth beneath him with the blood of dogs that had never done him wrong. Even when he had come after Ohu out of revenge, retaliating for an act that Weed and his pack had had no part of to begin with, he had still made sure that every move he made was designed to make his victims suffer as much as possible, simply so he could enjoy watching every waking moment of their pain. Now, after all of it, he had robbed Weed of one of the greatest friends he'd ever known. The last thing he deserved was mercy.

'This time,' Weed swore, 'I'm going to make sure that he's gone…permanently.

Despite his determination, however, Scimitar fought him back with equal intensity, seemingly hell-bent on at least killing **him** if he couldn't have his friends, and soon the two combatants were covered with small scratches and slashes from each other's fangs and claws, new ones appearing by the second as they whirled and twisted around each other in a bloody dance of death. Weed kept his full attention on Scimitar, feeling the wolf's fangs snapping dangerously close to his face, and grew more and more frustrated by the second when, despite utilizing every bit of speed he could muster, his attacks achieved the same result. For a second, he thought he saw George fighting off to his left, and realized quickly that they had fought their way into the battling mass of dogs in front of Gajou. He didn't look to see any more, however, for at that moment, he finally managed to land a hard blow, clawing Scimitar across the face with his front leg after faking a bite and sending him sprawling to the ground next to a rock that had fallen off of Gajou during the battle. Then the enraged Akita grabbed the wolf by the neck before he could recover and began slamming his head into the rock again and again as hard as he could, grunting with the force of each impact as it happened.

"YOU *smack* FUCKING *smack* SICK *smack* PIECE OF *smack* SHIT!!" he screamed hoarsely, nearly in a frenzy and sounding nothing like the Weed everyone knew and cared for.

Suddenly, Scimitar twisted out of his grasp and, with blood streaming down his face, grabbed the nearest dog in his jaws as Weed slashed at him again. Then he held it up in front of him like a shield and a shriek of pain was heard as the Ohu leader's fangs took the dog's entire throat out, exposing his spine with a spray of blood as he fell down dead, twitching for a moment before laying still. It was only then that Weed saw to his horror that it was one of his own dogs, a Koga ninja friend of his named Kazemusha. Scimitar looked up at him, licking his lips.

"Now look what you've gone and done." he taunted with a smirk and head-butted Weed hard between the eyes, splitting his forehead open before grabbing him by the muzzle and throwing him hard into a group of fighting dogs, sending them all flying from the impact.

Then suddenly, as he moved in for another attack, the wolf coughed violently, doubling over as blood spewed out of his mouth and spattered on the ground beneath them, and Weed looked up just in time to see Scimitar turn and run towards the burning forest on their right with a growl of frustration, weaving deftly in between the struggling forms around them and vanishing seconds later. Weed growled as well and, leaping to his paws, chased after him, swearing silently to himself that under no circumstances was the dangerous warlord going to escape his punishment this time. Not if he had anything to say about it.

* * *

Ken growled as he stared out the cave entrance. He was feeling both useless and in pain, and although the latter was being dimmed a little by the gentle touch of Lydia's tongue on his broken leg as she licked it, the former was almost unbearable. He could barely stand without immediately having to lie down again, let alone fight, so if anything happened to his friends and they needed help, he would be unable to give it. As a result, he wasn't sure what hurt more, his leg or his honor. Ken looked over at Kagetora's body and then looked back outside again, occasionally seeing the thrashing forms of the fighting dogs as they moved quickly by.

'I'll see this through.' he told himself determinedly. 'I'm the son of Ben of Ohu. A broken leg won't stop me from doing my part. I'll protect the leaders' mates if I have to.'

Ken winced as Lydia licked a particularly sensitive part of his leg and she stopped, sensing his distress.

"I'm sorry." she said, "Do you want me to stop?"

"No." he answered, shaking his head. "Thank you. It helps. I'm sorry you have to do this."

"Yeah, well, I'll do it just this once." she teased and then went back to her work when she saw that he wasn't in the mood for jokes.

Ken glanced at her, then nodded down at her bulging midsection.

"Have you thought of any names yet?" he asked and she looked up.

"We're still talking about it." she responded, clearly wondering if this was the right time to be having the discussion. "I personally like 'Damien'. Jerome seems to like 'James'. Or 'Duke'. He's not sure."

Ken smirked despite himself.

"What if it's a female?" he asked and she rolled her eyes.

"Don't even get me started." Lydia answered and the Great Dane shook his head.

Then she looked at him again.

"What would you name a pup?" she asked "If you had one."

Ken gave her a startled look.

"Me?" he asked, caught off guard. "I – uh…I never really thought about it."

"Come on. Humor me."

Ken felt very uncomfortable at the turn the conversation had taken and he could feel her eyes on him as he tried to think fast. After a minute, she went back to licking his leg, thinking that he didn't want to answer, and they were silent again.

"Kage."

She looked up at him startled and he fidgeted slightly as he shifted his weight to the other side of his body, his eyes looking down at the cave's stone floor.

"I'd name him 'Kage'." Ken said quietly and Lydia was silent, not even knowing how to respond.

After a few seconds, though, he added in a sarcastic voice:

"Or 'Sen'. Just to keep up my family's tradition."

She laughed, but then a low whine sounded from the back of the cave and they both looked back at Koyuki, who lay next to Reika by the wall out of the light.

"Are you all right?" Lydia asked, standing up and walking over to her as Ken turned slightly to get a better look at the other female.

Koyuki looked up at her from her prone position and Lydia immediately could tell that something was wrong.

"What is it?" she asked again.

The other dog panted shallowly.

"Their coming." she answered. "I think my pups are coming."

Lydia froze in her tracks and Ken let out a grunt of shock.

"Now?!" he barked. "You can't be serious!"

After studying her for a moment, Lydia glanced over at him.

"She's serious." she responded and Ken swore under his breath.

Suddenly, the light from outside dimmed, and they all looked just in time to see one of Scimitar's subordinates, who was already ripped half to shreds and had a bloodthirsty look on his face, standing in the entrance panting. When he saw the females, he let out a battle snarl and charged at them, causing Lydia to leap in front of Koyuki protectively as Ken suddenly jumped up, using his 3 good legs to do so, and barreled into him, sending him flying into the rock wall on the other side of the cave with a painful crash. But then the Great Dane landed on his bad leg and collapsed with a howl of pain, leaving Lydia alone as the dog rolled to his paws and charged again. When he got close enough, Lydia bit down on his neck and held her jaws there, but with her agility limited because of her pregnancy, she could do little else. The dog growled and, swinging around, smacked her to the ground hard, pinning her with a paw once he had.

"Now – " he started to say gruffly, but suddenly Koyuki reached over and bit his hind leg as hard as she could, causing him to let out a yelp of pain and release his pin on Lydia.

Snarling in fury, the attacker whirled around and aimed for the helpless Kishu's face with his sharp fangs, intending to kill her first, but then Ken leapt at him once more and this time managed to sink his teeth deep into the dog's unprotected throat, knocking him completely off his paws and biting down until he heard a sickening 'CRUNCH'. He felt blood gush into his muzzle and after a moment, the dog stopped thrashing and lay still. When he was sure the attacker was dead, Ken released his hold and looked over at Lydia, seeing in a glance that Koyuki was uninjured.

"Are you okay?" he asked, looking now like he was in extreme pain because of his leg.

The German Shepard nodded at him, rolling to her paws and looking back Koyuki.

"I'm fine," she said. "But we obviously have a problem."

Ken looked down at the other female, who was breathing even more shallowly then before and was now unable to stand. Then he glanced out the entrance to the cave to see if there was anyone within earshot that could help them somehow. There was no one. The Great Dane growled, seeing more and more smoke from the fire coming into the entrance by the second as he watched.

"Of all the shit timing!" he said irritatedly, standing up slowly and biting his tongue to stop from yelping in pain.

Then he looked back at Lydia with a determined expression on his face.

"Lydia," he growled. "Help her! I'll guard the entrance!"

The female nodded and turned back to Koyuki as Ken limped over to the cave entrance and got in the best fighting stance he could manage.

'I hope you guys can finish this fight soon.' he thought. 'Because this just got more complicated than you know.'

* * *

Joe let out a grunt of frustration as he killed another attacker, crushing his jugular between his jaws before tossing him aside and moving on to another. There was just no end to them! He had seen his father and Jerome return from the river minutes before, leaping into the battle immediately to aid their friends, and Tesshin had joined the effort as well, fighting despite the wounds he had already received, but Scimitar's subordinates were stubbornly refusing to surrender. To Joe, the battle seemed like the ocean's tide. Whenever it seemed to be pushed away from where it was, it would come rebounding back with equal intensity. This cycle had repeated a few times now, and he could already tell that his companions were beginning to get tired and just as frustrated as he was. Still, complaining wouldn't solve anything, and giving up wasn't an option.

He had seen Weed engage Scimitar and knew that the others had as well, so they had to soldier on. As long as the warlord was alive, his subordinates wouldn't surrender…so neither could they. At the moment, they were right in the middle of a powerful counterattack against them, and he was having to use every fighting technique he knew just to stay on his feet. Looking to his left, he saw Kyoushiro get knocked onto his side by a group of 5 dogs and get bitten and slashed all over his body, his legs kicking out desperately in every direction to try and get them off him. Leaping over, Joe arrived at the same time as Akame, and they both knocked the dogs aside, grabbing and ripping anything their fangs could get a hold of. By the time Kyoushiro rolled to his feet again, all 5 of them lay dead in pools of their own blood, one missing a leg and another lacking the entire top of his head. Kyoushiro looked over at him as the three males stood in a circle to cover each other.

"We should drive them towards the fire Akame-san!" he yelled. "Away from Gajou!"

"We don't know where everyone is!" Joe answered before Akame could. "We might end up pushing our own comrades into the flames if we do that!"

"So what do you suggest?" the elder Kishu shouted above the din. "We can't keep doing this forever!"

"Flank them!" Joe yelled back as Jerome, Gin, Tesshin, and George fought their way over to them as well. "We're beginning to outnumber them! If we can get in the right positions and encircle them, we might be able to force their surrender!"

Akame looked impressed as he met his gaze.

"It might work." he said to Gin. "If we work together."

Gin looked at his older son with a tired but proud smile as George killed a dog that was lunging for his back.

"Will you be leading this counterattack?" he asked and Joe nodded.

"Yes, father." he said. "I will be."

Gin nodded, giving his approval in Weed's absence, and Joe turned to his comrades.

"Everyone!" he called. "Follow me!"

They all nodded in support and leapt after the Akita as he took off running through the fighting dogs around them, all of them hoping that the maneuver could end the bloodshed once and for all.

* * *

Weed pumped his legs as fast as he could make them move. He was just at the edge of the main Gajou battlefield and could see Scimitar a couple hundred yards ahead of him, about to enter the tree line where Tesshin had fought against Takeshi, where the fire was the fiercest. Being faster, he was closing in on the warlord, but worried that he did not have the space left to catch up. Depending on the ferocity of the fire, Scimitar could slip away into the burning trees and disappear forever as the Ohu Army tried to regroup and find him. This thought made him run faster, and seconds later, Weed found himself entering the burning inferno that used to be their beloved home. It only took him a second to realize that he had indeed lost sight of Scimitar, and he skidded to a halt and whipped his head around, looking for any sign of movement with his keen blue eyes. There was nothing. Weed panted, feeling the heat assaulting his whole body.

"Come out and fight, you coward!" he shouted, and almost immediately heard a disembodied laugh.

"Coward am I?" came the voice. "You're the **last** person who should talk about being a coward. Remind me again who it was who let Ronin live because he was too much of a little bitch to kill him. And who was it that allowed Takeshi to keep his pitiful life, knowing full well that he wanted one of your closest friends dead at any cost? Think of all the innocent dogs that have died because of you and your mercy…think of dear Kagetora."

Weed trembled in anger, listening for any clue to the wolf's whereabouts. The noise from the fire around him, though, was too intense, and he heard nothing. Scimitar went on.

"You know what astounds me most about your pack, Weed?" he said, his voice cold and taunting. "The fact that those dogs out there follow you, trust you with their lives. They wander around in your wake like loyal little slaves, following your every command like you have all the answers, every one of them giving you respect you don't deserve. You may be a powerful fighter, but you're so naïve it's sick. That 'love-thy-neighbor' bullshit you flaunt in everyone's face is just a mask to cover up how little you really know about this world. Kindness is a tool for the weak, for those too scared to use aggression. No one truly respects you when you're kind. They only respect you when they **fear** you. Show them true fear, and they'll remember you forever. Show them kindness, and they'll walk on you forever."

"I don't believe that." Weed snarled and Scimitar snorted from wherever he was.

"Then you only prove my point, boy." he rasped. "And for your foolishness, you **will** die, even if I do first. Contrary to popular opinion, none of you Ohu mutts are invincible. By now, you should know that all too well. Your friends are just dogs, and you…you're just a pathetic, worthless, little false messiah. You're about as immortal as I am. And if I can end…so can you."

Suddenly, Weed's senses went wild and he quickly leapt sideways, but before he could land, he was hit hard from above and almost immediately found himself landing face first in the dirt clear across the clearing he was in. Then Scimitar was on him. Weed felt teeth dig deeply into his neck and then he was shaken back and forth, flesh ripping savagely as the wolf smashed him repeatedly into burning trees and nearby rocks. Then he was thrown to the ground again and Weed felt a splitting pain in his side as Scimitar drove his fangs into it and then jerked his head sideways, slashing open a deep, gushing wound. He yelped in pain but managed to throw the wolf off and wound him back, kicking him in the face and reopening the wound that Kagetora had slashed in his eye. Scimitar stumbled back, but recovering quickly, lunged at him again.

Rearing up on their hind legs, the two combatants wrapped their jaws around each others' necks and began ripping and tearing anything their fangs touched, and soon, they were both bleeding profusely from numerous deep wounds. Both refused to surrender, though, and as Scimitar deepened the wound in the Akita's side with his claws, Weed tore off one of the wolf's ears with a wet ripping sound and then threw him backwards into a burning tree as he yelled in pain, making it explode apart and send splintered wood and branches everywhere. When Weed lunged at him again, though, fangs bared and ready to strike, he noticed too late that his opponent had regained his footing with something between his jaws. Weed saw that it was a sharp tree branch only seconds before the warlord whirled around and threw it at him hard. Before he could dodge, the branch speared Weed right in the face and two things happened simultaneously: he felt pain the like of which he'd never felt before hit him, and all light in his left eye snuffed out at once…and didn't come back on.

Falling to the ground with a painful 'THUD', Weed howled in agony as he tried to pull the branch out of his eye with his paws, sensing Scimitar advancing on him as he did so. At the last possible second, he gave a hard pull and the branch popped free, and then Scimitar kicked him hard in the side, sending him skidding and rolling backwards away from him. Head spinning, Weed didn't even get a chance to stand up before the warlord grabbed him by the tail and threw him up into the air. Then he was being ripped and torn from all sides as Scimitar leapt back and forth through the air, cutting him again and again with his teeth and claws and making blood spatter into the flames with every hit, causing them to hiss as they burned the precious red liquid into nonexistence. Desperately, barely conscious, Weed twisted in midair and, after dodging Scimitar's slash, kicked him hard into a burning bush before falling to the ground, hearing the wolf's yelp of pain as the red-hot embers pressed into his wounds. Regaining his feet shakily, Weed stood and faced the warlord, seeing that he had picked up another broken branch, this one on fire, and now held it in his jaws like a weapon, the smoke and heat from the rest of the inferno becoming too intense for them both.

Suddenly, as they squared off again, both panting exhaustedly, Weed heard a popping noise in the distance. It had come from through the trees, away from Gajou, and it was followed immediately by more popping noises, each one getting marginally louder by the second. Confused and in pain, Weed glared over at Scimitar, and saw a strange look on his face, a look that Weed could only describe as fear mixed with triumph and surprise. Then, just as suddenly, the wolf turned and ran again, this time heading back for Gajou as he did. Blood streaming down his face, Weed leapt after him, his acute senses compensating for his blinded eye even as his whole body screamed in protest at being forced to move once again.

He felt the heat diminishing slightly as they left the burning forest behind, and as they came back out onto the Gajou battlefield, he saw something that astonished him. The battle was virtually gone. Only a handful of Scimitar's subordinates were still struggling, and they were surrounded by a legion of Ohu soldiers who were slowly forcing them into surrender, or if they refused, death by their fangs. Up ahead, Weed saw Scimitar skid to a halt, his ripped and bloody face looking positively dumbstruck.

"What –?" he sputtered, at a loss for words for one of the first times since Weed had met him. "How the fuck –?"

Looking over, Weed saw Joe barking orders at low and high ranking soldiers alike as they fought, a proud, satisfied look on his face as he did so, and the young leader of Ohu smiled proudly as he realized what had happened. But then, with a snarl of frustration, Scimitar turned and ran towards the edge of the cliff that led down into the river canyon, and Weed bolted forward and shot up the side of Gajou to get higher ground.

Scimitar growled as he ran, his wounds throbbing and his vision getting blurry. He could barely feel anything in his limbs anymore, and feeling the numbness spreading, knew that the poison's infiltration of his system was nearly complete. Soon, his body would begin to shut down entirely, and he would be unable to even move, which would leave him at the mercy of the Ohu Army.

'If I can only get to the cliff,' he thought, 'Then I can leap off and end my own life! It'll kill those Ohu mutts if they don't get their vengeance. Besides…everything's already in motion that needs to be. My work here is done.'

As he was passing Gajou's entrance, however, the cliff edge getting closer and closer with each step, something grabbed him by the hind leg and sent him crashing unceremoniously to the ground, his wounds flaring painfully as he fell on them. Pushing himself to his paws, he looked back furiously…and saw the Great Dane, Ken, biting hard into his hind leg, holding him in place. The big, brown-furred dog glared back at him.

"This is for Kagetora." Ken growled.

Then, before he could kick him off, teeth closed around his other hind leg as well. When he whirled to find their source, Scimitar saw a young, newly battle-scarred golden retriever.

"…and Hook." Mel said.

He was grabbed by his front leg.

"…and Musashi." said Kurotura.

Suddenly, his other front leg was held as well, rendering him completely immobile. When he looked towards the source, Scimitar the Kinslayer found himself staring into the furious, determined eyes of Gin of Ohu.

"…and every other innocent dog you've ever murdered." the elder Akita finished, then looked up above him behind his back.

When Scimitar followed his gaze, he froze in shock. Weed had run up the side of Gajou and leapt off a high rock way above their heads, his powerful legs giving him incredible height in his jump despite his wounds. As Scimitar watched, the Akita pitched forward in midair…and began to spin end-over-end like a blade.

"ZETSU TENROU BATTOUGA!!" he thundered, his powerful voice echoing off every corner of the battlefield, and Scimitar could only stand and watch in wide-eyed surprise as his opponent flew right at him, spinning faster and faster until he was nothing but a blur.

Suddenly, everyone holding him leapt away in different directions, but he had no time to even move. **CRUNCH!**

Every dog on the battlefield stopped whatever they were doing and turned to look as contact was made. Weed had buried his fangs right into the top of Scimitar's head between his ears, and sent them both flying backwards towards the cliff edge, a morbid geyser of blood exploding from the impact point as they did. After a second, they both landed hard on their sides, and lay still. Everything was silent for all of 5 seconds, then Weed pushed himself shakily to his paws, hearing cries of "Scimitar-sama!" coming from the dogs that were still struggling, and "Weed!" from his friends that were near them. Wounds throbbing and streaming blood, he began walking unsteadily towards the unmoving Scimitar, nearly collapsing as he did. Suddenly, Weed felt Gin come up on his right and steady him as he walked, Kurotura supporting him on his left.

"Weed!" Gin cried, gasping at his missing eye. "Are you all right?"

Weed nodded, and Kurotura laughed.

"You did it, Weed!" he shouted joyously, and Weed turned to respond.

Before he could though, Weed saw Scimitar stirring from his position on the ground and he tensed. Then Weed gently pushed past Kurotura and his father and walked up to Scimitar, who had somehow pushed himself up until he was lying on his stomach, his skull crushed in partially at the bloody impact point of Weed's fangs. Truth be told, Weed was stunned that the wolf was still alive, let alone conscious, but as the Akita approached, Scimitar met his gaze with his blood red, hazy eyes. Around them, Akame, Jerome, Tesshin, Joe and the others slowly walked up, having ended the battle moments before, and moved in silently until they stood in a circle around the mortally wounded Scimitar, none of them making a sound. Then Scimitar broke the silence.

"Wh-Where did you l-learn that…?" he slurred, his voice barely audible as he looked at Weed.

"My grandfather learned it from a wolf." Weed responded, no sympathy in his voice whatsoever. "Ironic isn't it? Your own kind gave us what we needed to bring you down."

Scimitar let out a low, almost cough-like laugh.

"So they did." he said, looking away. "I'm impressed, Weed. You actually lived up to your reputation. You and your friends are f-formidable opponents."

Weed was surprised by the compliment and glanced at Jerome, who had a similar expression on his face. Then Scimitar laughed again and looked back at him.

"Too bad you're all still going to die." he whispered smugly and Weed looked hard at him.

"This war is over, Scimitar." he said in a cold voice. "You've lost. These dogs are my family, my friends, and we will always be here to protect each other. Those of us that died died with honor, and it's their sacrifice that will keep us going. There's nothing more you can do to us."

Dogs around Weed nodded in approval and Scimitar's smile turned into a grin, blood seeping from between his fangs as he looked up at Weed weakly.

"I don't have to **do** a thing." Scimitar responded. "My last, greatest ally will see to it that you all join me when I die."

Weed stared down into the wolf's nearly unrecognizable face, seeing an almost triumphant look on it. Something was wrong.

"Takeshi's dead." Tesshin spoke up, glaring down at the wolf brutally. "Ronin's dead. Your subordinates are all subdued or defeated. You have no allies left, Scimitar."

Scimitar didn't take his eyes off Weed's.

"Didn't you hear them?" he asked in a near whisper, blood streaming from the corner of his mouth as his badly ravaged body began to shut down.

"Hear what?" the Akita asked.

"In the forest," came the response. "Right before I ran. Didn't you hear the guns?"

Weed froze. So that's what the popping had been! Scimitar saw his hesitation instantly. He smiled.

"Didn't you all wonder," he grinned malevolently. "Why I attacked Oroshi in the first place?"

Weed paused. He felt very uneasy, and judging by their expressions, so did the others.

"To get your revenge." he said. "To provoke us by hurting innocents instead of fighting us directly like a real male."

Scimitar shook his head, ignoring the insult.

"No…" he said. "If I had wanted to do that, I would've just killed your allies instead. When I attacked that place, and made it burn, the only ones I was trying to **provoke**…were the humans."

Weed's breath caught in his throat. He looked down at the warlord in horror as Scimitar sneered at him.

"Oh, you didn't think I had a backup plan." he taunted. "How stupid of you."

"You're bluffing." George spat from where he stood and the warlord looked over at him.

"I found out a long time ago that humans are the most dependable creatures in this world," he growled quietly. "Give them the right motivation and they'll always do exactly what you think they will. All I had to do was get them angry enough, and then wait for them to come running and end all our lives together. Then, dead or alive, I'd still get **exactly** what I wanted from the very beginning."

Weed's eyes widened with every word that came out of Scimitar's mouth. There was no way that could have worked. It was impossible. _Impossible_…

"My only regret is that I won't live long enough to see it happen." Scimitar said maliciously. "You think **I'm** a monster? Get them riled and humans are the biggest monsters of all. What I've done…is nothing compared to what they'll do when they arrive here. And they will, I promise you that."

He nodded his head toward the flames still leaping off their forest.

"With **that** fire burning," he said, "They'll come straight here. And they won't leave until they wipe every…last…one of you all off the world. Truthfully, I don't know **how** they were led back here, because they didn't follow me from Oroshi like I wanted them to, but I guess they figured it out somehow…and there's nothing you can do about it, boy."

Weed was at a total loss for words. He tried to speak but no sound came out and Scimitar continued to smile triumphantly up at him, looking with every passing moment like his strength was waning fast. Weed trembled in fury as he stared back, the others around him looking equally as shocked and livid.

"You bastard…" he growled shakily, his voice slowly turning into a shout. "You bastard, we were innocent! I'm going to be a father! I'm gonna have a son! A SON!!"

Scimitar smirked.

"Not anymore." he responded and Weed stiffened visibly.

Then, a very faint gunshot sounded from the burning forest and Scimitar tilted his head towards it as their gazes met again.

"What do you know?" he said smugly. "I win."

Weed turned and walked a few paces towards Gajou, picking up the still burning branch that Scimitar had had in his jaws when he'd run from the forest, and had dropped when he'd been grabbed by Ken and the others. Then he walked back over to the warlord, the eyes of everyone there on him. Scimitar looked him in the face.

"What are you doing?" he rasped.

Weed looked at him murderously.

"Giving you back your fire." he responded and with one swift movement, stabbed the branch into the wolf's throat as hard as he could, the sharp end coming clean out the back of his neck once he had.

Scimitar's eyes went wide, and he let out a gargling, strangled choking noise as blood spurted from the wound. Then, the fire leaping off the branch ignited his black fur with a 'WHOOSH' and Scimitar the Kinslayer burst into flames, becoming a burning, thrashing pyre in the darkening night, his throat not even having the breath left to let out a scream. Frightened, and deeply sickened with himself, Weed turned away, his legs feeling heavy as he walked slowly through his silent companions, who turned and followed him loyally as he headed for Gajou, only a few of them looking back. The war was over.

**---**


	16. Memento Mori

**Author's Note:** This chapter was one of the harder ones to write and I hope I got the feel I wanted to get across down. The title, in case you didn't know, is Latin for "remember you must die", which is important here. It's one of the final chapters in the story, but not the final one (there's 1 or 2 left), and I hope you enjoy it as usual!

**---**

The smell of smoke was beginning to pervade the area around Gajou. Thick, black clouds of it continued to rise from the flames shooting out of the forest around the great stone structure, and with every passing second it was getting harder and harder to breathe for the dogs of the Ohu Army. Exhausted, bloodied, and supporting one another, they walked quickly and quietly into the fortress's main entrance, heads looking around in every direction to make sure everyone was there. At the front of the group was Weed, who, while stubbornly refusing to be supported by Akame and his father, loped inside and leaned dizzily against the wall, his side oozing blood from the deep slash that Scimitar had made there. Akame came up to the young leader as Lydia leapt on Jerome happily behind him, licking his face and joyfully exclaiming that he was alive while their companions quickly got as far back into the cave as possible, laying down to avoid breathing in the smoke.

"Weed," the ninja-dog said concernedly. "You really need to lay down and let us clean that wound."

Weed turned to answer him, looking a little unsteady on his feet as he did, but then he froze, his gaze focusing on something behind Akame by the wall. His heart jumped into his throat and he felt a rush go through him as he pushed gently past the ninja dog and walked silently over to it, everyone around him stopping their talking when they saw it as well. Laying by the wall, panting and leaning against it with a weary look on her face, was Koyuki. As Weed walked up, she said his name in a relieved voice, her expression containing a combined joy at his being alive and horror at the condition he was in. Weed's gaze, however, was on the ground by her stomach…and the four squirming puppies that were lying there, pushing their tiny muzzles into their mother's underside to try and get milk. Weed fell to the ground in front of her and gave a laugh of sheer happiness, his mate's tongue cleaning the blood from his face around his now empty left eye socket.

"They're…beautiful." he said softly and she nuzzled him.

"Three males and a female." Koyuki responded. "You have three sons and a daughter, Weed."

"What are their names?" Weed asked her and she smiled.

"I was waiting for you." she answered and he looked back down at them affectionately as dogs near them crowded around to see.

Suddenly, a faint gunshot sounded and Weed glanced quickly back over his shoulder at the sound. Koyuki looked around.

"What was that?" she asked, looking nervously at him.

Weed smiled reassuringly and then stood slowly, licking the backs of each one his pups as he did.

"Nothing." he answered, nuzzling her. "It'll be all right. I promise."

Then he turned and walked back over to the entrance, passing Jerome and Tesshin, who were getting tended to by Lydia and the Kogas respectively.

"Weed, what are we going to do?" Kyoushiro asked to his right, ignoring his own bleeding wounds the way he always had. "We can't fight off humans!"

"I know." the Akita answered without looking at him and Sasuke spoke up.

"We have to run!" the Shiba Inu said intensely. "They won't follow us through the fire if we leave quickly!"

"Leave?!" George responded angrily. "After everything we just went through to defend this place?! You want to run?!"

"We don't have a choice!" Sasuke insisted as the two growled at each other. "Or do you want to stay and get shot?"

"We can't leave." Tesshin said from his position on the ground, and when they looked at him he added: "We have injured and pups here and won't be able to move fast enough to escape the fire. And even if we did, they would follow us anyway. You heard Scimitar. They think we're responsible for what happened in Oroshi. We'll be putting anyone whose territory we're in in danger just by being there."

"So we just sit here?!" Sasuke asked incredulously and Gin nodded behind him.

"Right now that's all we can do." he said sternly. "Tesshin's right. We're in no condition to move anywhere and even if we did, we couldn't go to a neighboring territory without putting the dogs there in danger too. We just have to hope that the fire stays as intense as it is and prevents them from getting any further."

"And we should make sure that everyone is accounted for in the meantime." Jerome said, standing up stiffly from where he had been laying. "We need to get everyone we can inside Gajou quickly."

"Some members of my pack are still in the forest." Suzaku spoke up urgently as Akame retook his place by Gin. "I told them during the battle to make sure that Takeshi's group didn't try and escape through the trees. We need to go get them now!"

Weed stood by the entrance, listening to his comrades talk without acknowledging them. He stared out at the burning trees and felt a tear trace its way down his furred cheek. There was only one possible way to make sure that all these great dogs were safe. The humans wouldn't stop just because of a fire. There was something else they needed before they would leave for good. And he knew what it was. Clenching his eyes shut, Weed suddenly felt something lightly nudge his ankle and he opened them as he looked down. Lying beside him, looking so small that he practically didn't exist, was one of his pups. It was one of the males, and Weed saw him trying unsuccessfully to stand and imitate his father's powerful pose, falling flat onto his face before he even reached his feet. Weed smiled affectionately at him and leaned down as the pup turned to him and licked his nose.

"You're a tough one," he said. "Being away from your mom this fast. I can tell already your gonna be a handful one day."

The pup let out little growl and bit at Weed's paw, and the Akita let him, hearing his friends still talking in the background. Then Weed nudged him off gently and turned the little pup to meet his gaze.

"I know you can't understand." he said. "But I'm going to make sure that you're safe, that you're all safe. This is something I **have** to do. One day, you'll understand that. When that happens, all you have to do is call me, and I'll be there…one way or another. Until then, take care of your mom, and take care of your brothers and sister. And keep an eye on the rest of these guys for me will you?"

He licked the pup's face and then stood, taking a few steps out the entrance. Then he turned back and, smiling, spoke words that had been spoken to him long ago.

"Become great." Weed said. "Become strong…Orion."

Then he departed out the opening of Gajou, unseen by all except the small pup, who looked after his father with confused, innocent eyes, wondering silently what the strange world around him really had in store.

* * *

Daigo heard a shell casing go flying as he fired his rifle, and the dog he had been aiming at fell in a heap a second later, blood and brain matter exploding out of the side of his head as he did. Next to him, he heard more shots and then Kanaye lowered his own gun, a grim smile on his face.

"Got another!" he called and Daigo glanced over at him.

"How many does that make?" he asked, wiping sweat off his forehead from the nearby flames.

"I don't know." Kanaye answered. "25? 26 maybe? Either way, it should be enough. We just got word from the helicopter that the town sent up like 20 minutes ago, and they say that there's bodies all over the place by that pile of rocks up ahead."

"Bodies? They're sure?"

"Yeah, looks like there was a big fight or something." Kanaye said, watching nervously as a nearby tree came crashing to the ground, fire engulfing its branches. "Either way, our job is done. We got paid up front for this anyway, so let's get out of here!"

"Not yet." Daigo answered, shooting another dog. "We need to get the leader."

"Are you crazy?! Look at this fire!" Kanaye shouted incredulously. "Besides, do you know how long it would take to even find the right mutt in this? We were hired to cripple the pack, Daigo-san. Their home territory is a fucking inferno, we've killed almost 30 of their pack, and from that report it sounds like the rest killed themselves off for us! They've been crippled! Let's book it!"

"As long as their leader is alive, they can rebound!" Daigo shot back. "Once we kill him, then we can go! When I'm hired to do a job, Kanaye, I get it done! No one leaves until we get that dog!"

Kanaye sighed, shouldering his rifle once more.

"Yes sir." he said, clearly unhappy with the older man's stubbornness. "Where to?"

"Look for a bluish grey Akita!" Daigo said. "That's what the report we got said the boss dog of this pack looked like! We don't have time to look too carefully though, so if you see **any** dog that even vaguely matches that description, shoot him!"

Kanaye shot another fleeing dog and cocked the rifle once more.

"Whatever you say, boss." he replied, moving forward. "Whatever you say."

* * *

Daisuke grimaced as he twisted the wrench. The bolt that he was trying to turn in the engine of his truck just wouldn't move and the thunderstorm that the news had been tracking had increased its speed, and would be there within hours if not sooner, effectively ruining his plans for a late night outing with his girlfriend, Kazuko. She didn't mind, he knew, but it still made him a little bit irritated that after he had planned it all so perfectly, life felt the need to step in the way…just like what was happening with Gin and his pack.

Before taking Kazuko out to dinner, Daisuke had planned on driving out to Futago Pass and getting Gin and his top dogs to come with him back to the hotel, where he could keep them safe until all the anger against them died down and was forgotten about. It wasn't as impossible as it sounded. After all, if Gin trusted him enough to get into his truck (as he had in the past), the others surely would follow his lead. It might have taken a couple minutes, but he was still confident that it would've happened. That is, if his truck hadn't decided to die on him right as he was getting ready to leave. He shook his head.

"Only when I really need you to work do you decide to break down." he grumbled to the vehicle. "Well just you wait."

As he twisted the wrench again, he heard Kazuko call him from her perch on the hotel's front porch.

"Do you want me to get your tool kit, Daisuke?" she asked and he shook his head, looking up.

"No, that's all right, babe." he said. "I'll fix this thing…eventually."

Suddenly he trailed off and froze. From his new position, he could clearly see thick, black smoke pouring out of the woods up in the mountains…right in the heart of Futago Pass. The fire that was causing it must have been a huge one, he decided, and he immediately dropped the wrench.

"Kazuko," he said urgently. "Call the fire department! Quickly!"

"Why?" she asked, looking up with a frown. "What's going –?"

Then she saw it too and gasped.

"Oh my god!" she exclaimed and Daisuke went running down the main road back towards town.

"Tell them there's a fire up in Futago Pass!" he yelled over his shoulder as he saw the hospital come into view over the hill in the road.

Suddenly, he saw someone coming the other way and realized it was Hidetoshi right as the older man trotted up to him.

"There you are, Daisuke!" he said. "I've been trying to call you for 20 minutes!"

"My phone was off." the younger man responded. "Sensei, there's a fire up in the mountains!"

"We know." Hidetoshi replied. "That's what I wanted to tell you. I'm heading up there with the fire crews right now to help. They already sent up the hospital's helicopter to get see how big it is."

"I'm coming too!" Daisuke said, then added. "Can I borrow your car?"

Hidetoshi gave him a confused look.

"What for?" he asked. "Just ride up with the trucks like I am."

Daisuke didn't answer and held out his hand. Hidetoshi gave him an exasperated look, realizing what his intentions were.

"Daisuke," he said sternly, handing him the keys to his car. "Don't go running after those dogs! Not with that fire there!"

Daisuke grabbed the keys and ran off down the street towards the hospital.

"Thanks, Sensei!" he called and Hidetoshi contemplated running after him.

After a few seconds, though, he turned and headed for the fire station, hoping that the trucks hadn't left already without him.

* * *

Jerome watched as Teru stood, getting ready to leave. It had been decided minutes ago that the young ninja dog would go into the forest and lead the remaining dogs from Suzaku's pack back to Gajou to safety. Rocket had offered to go, but Gin had refused, telling the Ohu scout that given his larger size and brighter fur color, he was a much easier target to shoot despite his speed. He didn't like the idea of Teru going either, none of them did, but they had all agreed that someone had to try and help their ally's companions, and Teru was fast, relatively small because of his youth, and agile, all of which gave him an advantage that everyone else there didn't have given the current situation. Jerome stepped up next to Akame and Gin as the older Akita addressed Teru.

"Remember, get in and get out." he said. "Try and get as many as you can to follow you, but don't get too close to those hunters."

Teru nodded.

"Yes, Gin-sama."

"And for god's sake, Teru." Kyoushiro said from his position by the wall. "Be careful will you?"

The younger dog grinned and then took off out the entrance without another word, Jerome following him with his eyes. Once he had, he stopped in surprise, seeing a tiny figure by the cave's opening, staring out at the fire as if transfixed by it. It was one of Weed's pups. He smiled slightly and walked up to the pup.

"What are you doing over here?" he asked in a kind voice, walking up to him. "You should be with your mother."

Then Jerome followed the pup's gaze and suddenly froze. There were tracks in the dirt leading away from Gajou towards the forest, and they definitely weren't Teru's. Jerome leaned down and sniffed at them, giving a start of shock seconds later. Weed's scent was all over them and he quickly glanced back into the cave, his head whipping around as he looked for sign of the young leader. He was nowhere in sight. The Shepard looked intensely back at the tracks. They were leading towards the sounds of the hunters' guns, he saw, and they hadn't been made too long ago. Jerome frowned.

"Why would you…?" he whispered in confusion, staring in the direction his friend had gone.

Then Jerome gasped and he froze again, feeling a frightened chill go through him. He knew what Weed was doing. It was the only reason he would go right at the hunters in his condition, and by himself.

"No…" he said to no one. "Weed, you – you wouldn't."

Jerome turned and gently picked up the whining pup in his mouth, depositing him seconds later with his siblings at their mother's side, then turned and ran for the opening. When he was halfway out, he heard a voice call his name.

"Where are you going Jerome?"

The Shepard turned and saw Tesshin, looking better but still the worse for wear, staring at him confusedly.

"Weed is gone, Tesshin." Jerome said urgently in a low voice. "I have to find him."

"What?!" the ninja dog exclaimed and looked swiftly around the cave the way Jerome had done. "Where?!"

"I don't know." Jerome lied, not wanting to panic him. "But tell Gin and the others and then follow me quickly. We have to get him back here!"

Tesshin nodded and raced back inside to tell the others as Jerome ran out of the opening, his wounds throbbing painfully as he broke into a full run once he was on open ground. He tightened his jaw.

'Please,' he thought. 'Let me be in time!'

* * *

Weed limped slightly as he walked through the trees. His side was still oozing a little blood and his left-side blindness was beginning to get to him. Strangely, the roaring flames around him, which he could swear were beginning to die down a little, didn't make him that nervous, a thought that the young Akita found bizarre. As he looked around at the ruins of the forest, he could almost see what it had looked like before this all had started. He could picture the green trees that they would run through and the small animals that they would hunt for prey, playfully stealing each other's kill to see what the reaction would be. He missed that. Suddenly, he felt a presence and paused briefly, wondering where it was.

"What are you doing, Weed?" came an ethereal sounding voice and the Akita almost smiled.

"What I have to, GB." he answered and resumed walking as the Setter was suddenly beside him, his form ringed by the same ghostly green glow that he had had last time.

"Are you sure it's your only option?" GB asked, his eyes not judgmental or angry in any way as Weed looked at him.

"If I don't go, then the humans will kill them all." he responded solemnly. "I know more about them then the others know. They haven't stopped because they're looking for me, the leader. If they don't get me today, they'll come back to finish what they started, and then **everyone** will die. I can't let that happen."

"And that's your decision to make." came a second voice, and suddenly Riki stood on his other side, bathed in the same otherworldly glow as GB. "Just be certain it's the right one."

Weed looked back at GB.

"You told me before that I would know when it was my time." he said. "Well…you were right."

After a pause, GB smiled and Riki mirrored him.

"I'm proud of you." the Setter said and Weed watched as the two of them moved around to his front, making him stop again.

"We'll be waiting." Riki said and Weed watched wide eyed as a third spirit emerged from behind him, stopping in between the other two.

It was Kagetora. The young Kai dog smiled.

"We'll **all** be waiting." he said and then, just as suddenly as they had appeared, they were gone.

Weed blinked, shaking his head to clear it. He took a few cursory steps forward, then paused again, hearing someone calling his name. Realizing that the voice was coming from behind him this time, he turned. A dog was bounding up to him and when he realized who it was, he felt his stomach lurch with dread. It was Jerome. The Shepard was limping a little as well, still not fully recovered from his fight with Ronin, but had a fierce determination in his eyes, and Weed wished to god that he hadn't shown up.

"Weed," Jerome said loudly, looking him right in the eye. "You can't do this!"

"Jerome…"

"No! I **will not** let you do this! Not after all we've been through!"

"There's no other way." Weed responded, surprised at the calmness in his own voice as he spoke.

"Bullshit!" Jerome shouted. "There has to be another way!"

Weed turned to face him.

"Like what, Jerome?" he asked almost matter-of-factly. "You know how determined humans can be. What other options do we have?"

The Shepard paused at this, and Weed could clearly see him desperately trying to work out an alternative in his mind. After a few seconds, he shook his head and met the Akita's gaze again.

"We'll figure it out, Weed." he said. "If we stick together as a pack, we'll figure it out."

Weed shook his head sadly.

"There's no time." he answered softly and Jerome let out a growl.

"How will killing yourself help anyone?!" he yelled. "Huh?! Think of your pups, Weed! Think of your son! How will growing up without a father help him at **all**?!"

"At least he'll be able **to** grow up." Weed insisted. "I'm doing this so he might live. And not just him, all of you. If those hunters reach Gajou, everyone there will die. And if you all die, Jerome, then everything we've fought for was for nothing, and Scimitar will win. And I **will not** let him win. This will keep you safe. This will give you all the chance to be happy, to actually **live** in our Paradise."

"So you have to die for us to be happy?!" Jerome sputtered, jumping in front of him to block his way. "No! I won't let you!"

Weed sighed deeply, looking away and closing his remaining eye.

"Jerome, please…" he mumbled quietly, avoiding the Shepard's gaze. "Just…go be with your family."

"**You** are my family."

Weed shook his head and, pushing past him, began walking faster towards the sound of gunshots. Jerome growled loudly.

"God damn it, Weed!" he shouted. "No you don't!"

On the last word, he tackled the Akita hard and the two males fell down the hillside to their left, tumbling end over end and entangled in one another, before landing at the bottom in a panting heap. Weed immediately kicked him off and leapt to his paws, but Jerome recovered quickly and leveled him with a painful paw smack to the face. When he came in for a second one as Weed stumbled back, the Akita dodged and grabbed him by the side of the neck, throwing him roughly to the ground with a second movement. Jerome rolled and leapt at him, and the two friends traded blows, trying not to hurt one another, but using their remaining strength to try and overpower the other. Given Weed's weakened state, however, Jerome had the advantage, and after knocking the Akita off his paws and onto his back, the Shepard dove on him, pinning the younger dog by the shoulders.

"You listen to me, you son-of-a-bitch!" Jerome snarled, panting as his eyes flashed angrily. "This pack has lost too much already! We just lost Kagetora, and **that** was devastating enough. How do you think it'll affect them if you die too?! HUH?!"

Weed stared up at him, panting as well, his eyes looking sad and regretful. Jerome didn't budge.

"You and I have been friends for 4 years." he said forcefully, looking Weed right in the eye. "We have survived everything that has been thrown at us, and now we are both going to be fathers. I have lost too much in my life already to lose you too, so don't you **dare**...do this to me now. Not now!"

Tears began sliding down Weed's face, and he suddenly hugged the Shepard tightly to him with his front legs, holding him close and clenching his eyes shut as Jerome hugged him back. Not breaking his hold, he put his muzzle close to his friend's ear.

"I'm sorry, Jerome…" he whispered, his voice breaking a little. "I'm so sorry! This **has** to happen. It's the **only** way. We've suffered long enough. I won't have these humans destroy the peace this pack has fought so hard for. I won't!"

Then Jerome heard him whisper something else in his ear, and though at first he was confused, his eyes soon widened in shocked understanding. He pulled away abruptly and gaped at Weed, his voice speechless.

"You – " he said, "You want **me** to – …"

Weed looked him in the eye.

"Forgive me…" he said softly.

Then he suddenly threw Jerome off him and sent the Shepard flying into a tree. After he hit its trunk, Jerome tried to get up again but before he could, Weed head-butted him hard in the side of the face, and before he could protest further, the already injured dog's vision faded entirely, and he knew no more.

* * *

"Jerome! Jerome, wake up! WAKE UP!"

Jerome's eyes fluttered open painfully, replacing the black world he had been in with a fuzzy bright one, and he stayed where he was as his vision started to come back into focus. Once it had, he looked up and saw that there were dogs standing all around him, every one of them wearing a concerned expression on their face. Closest to him was Gin, and Jerome realized that the elder Akita had been the one speaking to him. He sat up fast and looked around, a small trickle of blood coming from his left temple where Weed had hit him. Gin got his attention quickly and Jerome could see when he looked at him that the former Ohu leader was frightened.

"Jerome," he barked urgently, Joe and Kurotura standing beside him. "Where's Weed?!"

Jerome stood shakily.

"I don't know." he responded. "He knocked me out when I tried to stop him."

Then he looked right at Gin.

"We've gotta stop him, Gin." Jerome said. "He's going to sacrifice himself to make the humans leave."

Everyone there gasped.

"He wouldn't do that!" Kyoushiro said angrily and Mel nodded in agreement next to him.

"Yes he would." Rocket spoke up suddenly and everyone looked at him. "He knows there's nothing we can do to stop them. The fire's starting to subside and if it does, they'll reach Gajou and we'll all be killed. Weed would do anything to keep that from happening. That's just who he is."

Realizing Rocket was right, Gin looked nothing short of frantic.

"We have to find him!" he said loudly and Akame called him from back up the hill where Weed had been walking originally before Jerome had tackled him.

"His scent leads this way!" the ninja dog told them and Gin leapt after the trail, Jerome and the others right behind him.

* * *

Daigo swore as he looked through the rifle's scope. He had just missed a small, fast dog that had disappeared into the trees in front of them, leading the few remaining dogs near them away from the area and out of their reach. Kanaye had just checked in a minute ago and reported that there had been no sign of any dog matching their target's description, and the elder hunter had not been pleased with the news. The section of the forest they were in was still burning fiercely and the flames were beginning to make Daigo nervous. Much as he hated to admit it, Kanaye had been right. They couldn't stay out in this much longer. In a few minutes, if they didn't get their quarry, he would have to call it off and wait a day or so until the fire was controlled. Then they could come back and do a more thorough search, maybe eliminate all the dogs if they were lucky. Daigo, however, just wanted to leave. He scowled, looking through the eyepiece.

"Come on you bastard." he said under his breath. "Where are you?"

Suddenly, he saw movement and aimed up at a rocky outcropping of the hill to his left. When he saw its source, he froze. Standing on the edge of the rocks, looking down at the chaos below, was an Akita, its bluish grey fur tinged with red in numerous places from various wounds. He quickly turned and leveled the rifle's scope on the dog's head, hearing Kanaye and another hunter come up beside him. Daigo breathed deeply, relieving his shaking hands, and put a finger on the trigger.

"There you are." he whispered as the dog turned and looked right at him. "I've got you now…"

* * *

Jerome felt Joe come up beside him as they ran, and kept his pace steady, his wounds becoming increasingly painful and difficult to ignore. The trail they were following was only minutes old at the most, and Gin was leading the group at a feverish pace, making Jerome wonder if he or Akame even realized how close they actually were getting to where the gunshots had originated from. Suddenly, as they rounded a bend in the path, the two older soldiers skidded to a halt, and the others behind them did the same, looking around them to see the cause. When he saw why, Jerome's jaw dropped, and he felt a thrill of fear go through him.

Weed stood on a rocky outcropping of the hill up ahead, and below him, silhouetted in the light from the fire, were the human hunters, aiming their long guns at him steadily as Jerome and the others watched. As if he had sensed their presence, Weed turned and looked right at them, and Jerome saw a sad smile creep onto his muzzle. Gin took a step forward, Joe and Akame standing motionless on either side of him.

"No…" he said, sounding horribly helpless. "Please no…"

Weed's expression didn't change, and Jerome saw his gaze linger on each one of them for a moment before he looked back at Gin, appearing more powerful in that moment than he ever had before.

"I'm sorry." they heard him say clearly. "I love you all."

Then 3 shots rang out, splitting the silence like a knife, the noise from the fire sounding practically insignificant. Jerome watched as the first two bullets whizzed right past his friend, ricocheting harmlessly into the underbrush behind him. The third hit him right between the eyes. Jerome felt his whole body go numb as Weed's head whipped back, blood exploding out of the back of it, and then he fell, disappearing behind the rocks and out of sight. In the background, Jerome registered the cries of horror from his companions, but he didn't care. All he knew was that the best friend he'd ever had was finally, forever…gone.

* * *

"Got him!" Daigo exclaimed, shouldering his weapon quickly. "Now gather up everyone and let's get out of here!"

"You got it!" Kanaye answered back, gesturing wildly to a couple of men who had strayed from the group a little. "Nice shot, Daigo-san!"

"Yeah, sure." the older man answered, not sounding as enthusiastic as they ran back through the trees towards the town. "Now let's go. I'm gonna need a drink and a good night's sleep tonight. We're heading back to Tokyo in the morning."

"Already?" Kanaye asked in surprise. "Why so soon?"

"No reason." Daigo shrugged, shoving a cigarette into his mouth and thinking silently about Hidetoshi's young friend whose name he suddenly couldn't remember. "I just think it's time to go."

"Suit yourself, boss." Kanaye responded, shouldering his own rifle beside him. "Suit yourself."

**---**


	17. The End, And The Beginning

**Author's Note: **This is the final chapter of the story and I personally like the way it came out. There IS an epilogue, though, so this technically isn't the end. Hope you like it!

**---**

Daisuke could see the fire before he even got to where he was going. Rounding a bend in the road, he caught glimpses of the flashing lights of the fire trucks and managed to see flames shooting out of the forest beside them before it all went out of his view again. Stepping down harder on the car's accelerator, he pulled up behind the first of the bright red vehicles that he came to. Once he had thrown the car into 'Park' and jumped out, slamming the door behind him, he saw Hidetoshi standing beside one of the trucks ahead of him, using a portable fire extinguisher to help subdue the flames closest to them. Daisuke didn't know how his friend had gotten there before him, but he didn't dwell on it for long. Breaking into a run, he stopped next to the doctor right as the older man looked up to see who was approaching him.

"Daisuke." he said. "I was wondering where you were."

"Yeah, well," the younger man retorted. "Your car isn't quite as fast up here as my truck is. How's it going?"

"Much better." Hidetoshi said. "The fire's not quite as serious as we originally thought. We have most of it under control in this area already and we're getting ready to move further in."

"That thunderstorm looks like it's about to start any minute." Daisuke said, looking up at the dark clouds and realizing that he couldn't quite distinguish between them and the smoke from the fire.

"If we're lucky." Hidetoshi responded and Daisuke suddenly gestured back over his shoulder.

"Was that that Daigo guy I saw leaving on the way up here?" he asked with a frown, remembering the Jeep that had passed him on the road, and Hidetoshi nodded.

"Yeah it was." he answered. "We saw him too. Looks like he and his group are leaving for good."

"What makes you say that?"

"I know Daigo." the older man said. "Better than he probably thinks I do. Trust me, he's leaving."

Daisuke clapped a hand on his shoulder, secretly feeling a combined sense of relief and dread at the hunter's departure.

"In that case, I'll be back!" he said and leapt into the trees, getting drenched by one of the fire truck's water-spouting hoses in the process.

"Daisuke!" called Hidetoshi and he turned back to his friend.

The older man looked disapproving, but understanding.

"Be careful." he said. "We haven't put out most of the fire where you're going yet. I'll meet you back at the town a little later."

Daisuke nodded with a smile.

"I'll be there, Sensei." he said.

Then he turned and disappeared into the forest.

* * *

There were very few times that Gin could remember where he had ever collapsed, where his emotions had overwhelmed him so completely that his powerful legs had given way beneath him and he had dropped physically to the ground below. He had felt embarrassed after these incidents, but had internalized it, making it so no one except the most astute, like Akame, knew how he felt. After all, a leader had to be strong for his subordinates, for his comrades, even when he wasn't the leader anymore, and collapsing like that made Gin feel vulnerable. That was a feeling he had never liked, and he had made a promise to himself after the last time that it would never happen again if he could help it. On that day, however, with the image of his beloved son falling lifeless to the ground burned into his mind, he broke that promise.

He had vaguely registered the group of them dashing over to the spot where Weed had fallen, his legs seeming to move of their own accord, and he had heard his son's name being called all around him as bile rose in his throat. When he had finally gotten a good look at the limp, bloody form, though, a gaping hole in the back of its head and its eyes closed peacefully as if sleeping, Gin had crumbled, letting out a moan of sheer horror and crawling up to what was left of his son. All around him, the others were doing the same thing, and the expressions on their faces reflected what each one was feeling. Tesshin looked crushed, tears streaming down his normally stoic face as he shouted Weed's name vainly. Kyoushiro, meanwhile, looked as if someone had hit him upside the head with something large and heavy, and it seemed to Gin like he was trying to convince himself that it was all a bad dream that he could force himself to wake up from. Finally, looking completely heartbroken as he lay beside him, was Jerome, and Gin felt an irrational anger rise in him towards the Shepard for his inability to stop Weed before. Before it surfaced any further though, he managed to cast it away.

When he tried to form words to speak, Gin found that he couldn't, and finally, unable to maintain his fragile control any longer, the elder Akita dropped his head down onto his son's neck and sobbed, not even acknowledging the voices around him or what they were saying. Then he felt someone lie down atop him and hold him tightly to them, and he only recognized them when they spoke. It was Akame.

"Gin." the Kishu said softly, clearly crying as well. "He's gone. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry…"

Before Gin could respond, Kyoushiro suddenly leapt up and smacked Weed across the muzzle with his paw, startling everyone there.

"Wake up!" he commanded loudly, and Gin saw Rocket rest a paw on his shoulder.

"Kyoushiro…" he said, but the younger Kishu didn't listen.

"YOU IDIOT!!" he screamed, tears streaming down his furred cheeks as he began smacking the dead dog's face repeatedly. "YOU MOTHERFUCKING IDIOT!! YOU **STUPID** PIECE OF – "

Suddenly, Joe leapt up and half tackled him off Weed's body, simultaneously restraining and hugging the other dog as he cried uncontrollably, his own body trembling with grief as he tried not to look at his little brother's motionless form. Then they all heard a noise.

"Gin!"

The group of them looked up. It hadn't been a dog's voice, and the Akita looked towards its source just in time to see a human emerge from the trees behind them. He was soaking wet and covered in what looked like soot, and at first Gin didn't recognize him. He leapt to his paws, throwing Akame off him, and made a snarling rush at the intruder, wanting to hurt him as badly as he possibly could for what had happened, for what should never have had to happen. The human stopped dead in his tracks, looking taken aback, and Gin suddenly felt both Akame and Kurotura restrain him from behind, neither one having the heart to say anything to their grief-stricken friend. The human however, said Gin's name again, holding his hands up in front of him like a shield.

"Whoa! Whoa!" he said loudly. "It's me! Gin, it's me!"

Gin stopped struggling, recognizing the voice instantly now that he'd heard it a second time, and he found himself looking up at the face of the young man who had once been his puppyhood best friend and master. It was Daisuke.

Daisuke put his hands down, looking at the three dogs in front of him and wondering silently what **that** had been about. When he glanced at the larger group a few feet away, though, he saw a motionless figure on the ground right in their center, its blue fur instantly recognizable.

"Oh no." he said and walked quickly over to them, hearing a few of them bark and growl at him, only to be silenced by the others he knew better.

When he reached them and looked down at the form, his worst fears were confirmed. Gin's son lay in a pool of his own blood, an obvious rifle wound to his head. He was clearly dead, and Daisuke clenched his eyes shut, kneeling beside him and feeling like he had failed them somehow.

'So **that's** why Daigo was leaving.' he thought. 'He thought he'd finished what he came to do.'

Shaking his head in anger, the young man sighed, feeling a strange sense of relief come over that Gin himself hadn't been hurt. The sight of the body in front of him, however, almost immediately canceled that out, and he looked back at it sadly. Suddenly, he felt a nudge at his arm and Gin was there, whining and nudging the limp form on the ground before looking back at Daisuke with an almost pleading stare. Daisuke reached out a hand and stroked the top of his head.

"I know, buddy." he said softly. "I wish I **could** do something. But I can't…"

Gin nudged his head into the human's shoulder and Daisuke threw his arms around his friend's neck, feeling the Akita trembling as he held him. When they pulled apart after what seemed like an eternity, Daisuke could feel the eyes of all the dogs there on him, and he nodded, understanding what they must have been feeling. He reached out and stroked the fur on Weed's cheek. Then he gave a smile.

"He was quite the dog." he said, looking at Gin. "From what I saw, Gin, he was just like his father."

He thought he saw the Akita's tail wag for a moment, but then he turned and took Gin's head in his hands.

"If anyone will understand this, it's you, Gin." he said. "We've almost put the fire out, so once you get back to your home, you won't have to worry. I came to take you back with me, but I see now that I don't need to. I'll just make sure that no more humans bother you guys up here anymore. I'll get Hidetoshi to help me if I have to, but I'll make it happen. That's a promise."

Gin licked his face and Daisuke rubbed the dog's head again. Then he stood up, sweeping the soot and dirt from his pants.

"I'll be back up to check on you guys from time to time." he said, smiling at them and realizing that they probably didn't want him there at the moment. "That's a promise too."

Then he turned and walked back to the tree line he had come from, making sure to avoid the areas that were still burning. When he reached it, Daisuke turned back.

"See you 'round, Gin." he smiled.

Then he turned, and was gone. After a moment, Gin turned back to the others, all of them having gotten their composure a little bit.

"Everyone." he said, surprised at the strength in his own voice. "Let's go home."

At that, he walked over and leaned down, gently nudging Weed's body onto his back, Tesshin and Jerome helping him. Once it was secure, the tired little group turned around and headed back for Gajou.

* * *

Outside the entrance to Gajou, it was all but silent. The Ohu Army had arrived back at the great stone structure only 20 minutes ago, and had laid Weed's body gently down by its entrance, finding as soon as they had that their soldiers who had stayed behind had already cleared the battlefield of the bodies of those who had died, putting them into a pile off to the side for burial later. Koyuki had taken the news of Weed's death about as well as they had expected, and had been inconsolable ever since, although she was starting to calm down a little with help from Lydia and Reika. Afterwards, they had all gathered around outside, the dozens of subordinates they still had standing around behind them, waiting for a decision on what their next move was. That is where they were now, and as they stood there, Akame looked over at Gin.

"Gin," he said. "What should we do now?"

The Akita paused for a moment, his normal composure still not completely returned. Before he could answer, though, another voice jumped in.

"Father," Joe said, stepping forward as everyone turned and looked at him. "There's something I need to tell everyone."

Gin looked surprised, but nodded, and then watched as his last remaining son turned and ascended the side of Gajou, stopping on a high rock overlooking the entire group of them, general and subordinate alike. For a moment, he looked as if he was struggling with himself as to whether to reveal what he wanted to say. A few seconds later, though, the younger Akita got a determined look on his face and opened his mouth to speak.

"Everyone," he said loudly, making sure that every dog there could hear him. "I realize that the last few months have been some of the hardest we've ever had to endure, and we've lost a lot of friends, friends that we'll all miss every day, starting with Musashi and Jaguar…and ending with my brother."

Everyone's head drooped a little, but Joe continued.

"But before the final battle, my brother told me something, had a request of me, and it's a request that I intend to fulfill. I know some of you may have seen us arguing inside Gajou right before he left and the battle began, and I think you have the right to know what he said."

Joe saw the eyes of everyone on him, and took a deep breath.

"He told me: 'Joe, sooner or later, we're going to have to fight Scimitar and his army. When that happens, he and I will have to duel and this is one fight where I can't show mercy. It **has** to be to the death. Scimitar's a strong opponent, despite how sick and deranged he is, and though I have faith in us, I'm not sure who will live through this… Brother, if I should die today, I want you to take over my position…as leader of Ohu.'"

There was a collective gasp from the subordinate dogs below, and Gin and the other high-ranking dogs looked at their friend in surprise, looks of silent approval on their faces despite the suddenness of the news. Joe's eyes scanned the dogs that were there.

"It was his wish that I take over for him if he should die, but I will only do it with your approval. I won't try to be my brother…no one can, but I can lead you to the best of my ability, and I promise that this place will become a dog's paradise once more, no matter how long it takes."

Dogs below barked their approval, and Joe looked over at the pile of bodies off to the side of Gajou, then let his gaze pan over to Weed's still form, a few tears sliding down his furred cheek. He looked back at them.

"I've been told that my grandfather once said: 'Howl for the honor of the dead, and celebrate with the living'." he said with a half-smile. "Well…that's what I intend to do, because we're all still here! And that, my friends, means that we've won! Our friends' sacrifices were not in vain! We're still here, and we **always** will be!"

Suddenly, Gin, feeling more proud of his son then he ever had before, lifted his head and let out a loud howl. Seeing this, the others joined in, and their voices echoed off the stones of Gajou and the remaining trees of the forest, and floated up into the sky. As they howled, Jerome turned to Koyuki, who had calmed down enough to be outside to howl for her dead mate.

"Koyuki." he said. "What did you name the other pups?"

She turned and looked at him, then looked down at the tiny creatures, clustered at her feet. She nodded at each one in turn.

"This one is Sirius." she said. "He's the oldest. The black one is Rigel, and the female is Bellatrix."

Jerome nodded in approval.

"I like it," he said. "It may take me awhile to remember them all with my pups coming too, though."

Then he shook his head.

"I'll do my best." he smiled slightly. "After all, I'll be the one teaching them how to hunt. It would probably be good if I could call them by name."

She cocked her head in confusion.

"Why do **you** have to teach them, Jerome?" she asked.

For a moment, the Shepard didn't answer, thinking back to one of the final things Weed had said to him, whispering it in his ear before they'd parted. Then he looked down at the pups and his smile widened.

"Because I'm their godfather." he said and Koyuki gave him a startled look that quickly became a knowing one, as if she had expected this all along.

Before she could say anything, though, he walked over beside Gin and howled once more, his voice joining theirs until they all silenced, their eyes coming to rest on each other. Then the Ohu Army all stood together, Gin, Akame, and Joe at the front, each of them knowing that the grief they felt would soon end if they stuck together as a pack, and that suddenly there was more hope for the future then they had previously thought possible.

* * *

There was a storm coming. Joe could see this clearly from his perch on top of Gajou, and the further he looked to the west, the blacker and more foreboding the sky got, and he wondered how long the rain would last this time. Down below, on ground level, he saw some of his pack playing and horsing around, not yet realizing that their idyllic day wouldn't be lasting much longer. But he couldn't blame them. They were just common soldiers after all, and didn't have the stress and responsibility that he and the other high-ranking dogs of Ohu did. Plus, they had been through so much recently, that allowing them to indulge in a few moments of fun was just the kindest thing to do.

It had been 2 days since Weed had been buried, dogs coming from all around to pay their respects to the departed leader of Ohu, and Kisaragi and Izou had offered to let the Ohu Army stay with them in their territory until Paradise was restored to its former beauty. Joe knew that this could take months, but truthfully, he wasn't worried. The chances of another pack seizing it while they were gone were slim to none, especially with the state that it was in after the fire, and they would be keeping an eye on it closely anyway, sending scouts back every so often to make sure that it was exactly the way they had left it when they decided to return. Suddenly, he heard someone come up behind him.

"Leader." Came a young but strong sounding voice.

Glancing over his shoulder, Joe saw a white Kishu with scars covering his finely tuned form. It was his close friend Kyoushiro.

"Kyoushiro." Joe greeted him. "What is it?"

"Gin says that everyone's ready to leave." Kyoushiro said. "Teru and the other scouts that we sent out just got back and they all report calm."

"Even from the South?"

Kyoushiro smiled slightly.

"Even from the South." he replied and Joe nodded his approval.

Then he stretched his hind legs and turned to Kyoushiro.

"All right," he said. "You, Tesshin, and Jerome gather everyone together and we'll move out immediately."

"Yes, Soudaishou." Kyoushiro said, then cocked his head curiously as the other dog began descending the side of Gajou. "Where are you going?"

"To check on Koyuki." Joe responded with a smile. "To let her know that she doesn't have to carry those pups all by herself."

Kyoushiro grinned and nodded at him, and then turned and ran for the group gathering below as Joe walked towards the entrance to the cave in the side of Gajou where Koyuki and others were resting. Over in the west, the sky looked as bleak and foreboding as ever, and Joe silently hoped it wouldn't rain. The place they were going to was too beautiful to let the rain wash away their rejuvenated spirits. Whatever happened though, Joe knew that they would be together, and that they would survive. When he reached the bottom of Gajou, he saw that the pack had begun to move out already, heading North towards Kisaragi's homeland of Mutsu with Gin and Akame at the front. Right before he ran to catch up with them, though, he stopped at Weed's grave, positioned next his grandfather Riki's at the front of Gajou, both of them surrounded by the graves of other Ohu heroes from the past. Looking down, Joe smiled.

"See you in a couple months…brother." he said.

Then he leapt after his departing comrades, his powerful strides taking him closer and closer to the front of the group with every movement, and soon they were out of sight, the place that they called Paradise already healing peacefully in their wake.

**---**


	18. Epilogue: Orion of Ohu

**Author's Note: **This is the final segment of the story. If you've been following GDW's sequel, "Ginga Densetsu Weed Orion", then you should know what the Kamakiri reference in this is talking about. If not, well, that's okay too. ;) Thanks to everyone that reviewed! Later!

* * *

**7 months later…**

Jerome yawned widely, feeling his eyes drooping even more than they had earlier that morning. He felt exhausted, and wondered silently if it was possible for him to fall asleep where he sat, without having to lie down. Wondering how tired Lydia was, he yawned again, silently watching and listening to everything around him. They had arrived back in Ohu only a week ago, and already the areas damaged by the fire during the war against Scimitar were beginning to come back. They still had a long way to go, he saw, but at least it was a start, and there were still many parts of Paradise that had been relatively undamaged. The humans, apparently, had done their job well in protecting it from the flames.

Many things had happened in the interim since they'd left, and though their time up in Mutsu had been peaceful, something they had all been grateful for, Jerome was glad to be back home. Ken's leg had fully healed, thanks in most part to Akame's knowledge and care, and he had begun holding himself a little higher than he had since Kagetora's death. They had all been glad to see this, and Jerome mentally reaffirmed how relieved he was to have his friend almost back to normal. They had also been reunited with Lydia's brother Maxime, who had swam over from Russia once he had gotten over a serious injury of his own. He had been happy to see his sister again, and to hear of Scimitar's demise, but had been understandably saddened to learn of everything the warlord had done before that, and he had tearfully apologized to Gin and Joe for his role in the events that led to Scimitar's coming. Gin had told him that there was nothing to apologize for, and that since Scimitar had made his own choices, fault for them rested solely with him. The German Shepard had been relieved to hear this, though Jerome suspected that it hadn't assuaged his guilt as much as he'd let on. Nevertheless, he had promised to stay with them until such time as they could return to Ohu, a time, it turned out, they didn't have to wait that much longer for.

Prey had returned to the area, a fact that Rocket had discovered during one of his scouting runs from Mutsu, and after ensuring that it was enough to sustain the pack, they had departed for their own territory, thanking Kisaragi and Izou for their hospitality. This time though, the trip had been a little more difficult, because their number had increased since their arrival. Lydia had had her pups up in Mutsu around 2 and a half months ago and despite how happy and excited he had been about his newfound fatherhood, Jerome had quickly discovered how exhausting pups could be.

'6 pups!' he thought almost irritatedly. 'Why did it have to be **6**? I haven't been this tired in years!'

Lydia of course had gotten it even rougher, and the other members of the pack had taken over for her on multiple occasions, watching after the 6 bundles of energy while she and Jerome had finally gotten the chance to rest a little. That, of course, hadn't worked out very well either, because Jerome's other 4 charges had immediately succeeded in occupying the little time he had to himself. As one of the leaders of Ohu, Jerome had to divide his time between his duties, his own family, and Weed's pups, though Gin and Joe were helping greatly with the last of these three. The two Akitas were spending more and more time together recently, despite Joe's increased responsibilities as leader, and Jerome suspected that Gin was trying to bond a little better with his last remaining son. He suspected that neither one of them had quite gotten over Weed's death yet; he knew that he hadn't, and that they were helping each other to move on. This, of course, gave Jerome more time to learn about his new godsons and goddaughter, and he quickly discovered that each one of them had a distinctly different personality.

Sirius, the oldest of the 4 of them, was a spitting image of his father, both in physical appearance and behavior, and he was constantly trying to watch out for his other siblings, though he didn't always succeed in keeping them out of trouble. Rigel was the youngest brother, and with his black fur, he was pretty distinct. He had a tendency to be sarcastic and Jerome had had to reprimand him more than a few times. Bellatrix, the youngest and the only female, was less adventurous than her brothers, and had a tendency to be a little overemotional, a trait that Jerome saw in a few of his own pups. When she got older, he suspected, she would grow into quite a magnificent dog, but as of right now, she was something of a runt. The final of the four was the second oldest brother and the pack's new troublemaker: Orion. The young pup was practically a clone in appearance of his uncle Yukimura, and he had developed an unparalleled knack for pissing off the adults of the pack, usually by insulting them or getting the other pups into various kinds of trouble. He had a good heart and a strong sense of justice, and he was both a promising fighter and the protector of his siblings, but young Orion's arrogance was truly a sight to behold, and Jerome found it astonishing how simultaneously similar to and different from his father he was. As he thought about all this, Jerome suddenly sensed something behind him and rolled his eyes, knowing instantly what it was.

"Don't even think about it, kid." he said and heard a grunt of frustration.

"How'd you know I was there?" came Orion's irritated voice as he walked up next to Jerome from where he had been crouched.

The Shepard turned.

"It's a skill." he said, marveling at how quickly the young dog was growing. "And you're not as quiet as you think you are."

"I'm still better than half of you adults." Orion responded haughtily. "And **you** should learn to lighten up a little, Uncle Jerome. You're too serious. You're about as much fun as Tesshin-san."

"Well if you'd let me **sleep** for once then I might do just that." Jerome responded good-naturedly. "And Tesshin? That's a low blow, Orion."

"Hey, the truth hurts." the pup laughed, then turned and walked a few steps forward, looking up at the sky as he did.

"Uncle Jerome?" he said after a pause.

"Hmm?"

"What was my dad like?"

Jerome tensed. He had been wondering when the young dog would ask this question, especially now that he'd seen Weed's grave, and he was surprised that it had taken him this long. He bowed his head a little as Orion looked at him.

"Your father…" he said, thinking carefully about his words. "Was a true leader, and a good friend. He was probably the greatest dog I ever knew."

Orion took all this in, then turned back to the sky.

"I wish I'd known him." he said and Jerome felt a lump rise in his throat.

"Me too, kid." he said sadly. "Me too."

Suddenly, Orion whirled around, his expression changing instantly as if he had just thought of something exciting.

"Wait! You're still gonna teach me some of your assassin dog moves later, right Uncle Jerome?" Orion asked eagerly.

"Sure thing, kid." the Shepard said, cocking an eyebrow. "There's just one thing you need to get first."

"What's that?"

"5 years added on to your life." Jerome answered and Orion froze.

"HEY!" he yelled and Jerome laughed as the pup let out a growl at him, squaring himself off to the older dog.

"Why you backstabbing – !" he started, but then someone barked behind him.

"Orion!"

The pup cringed instantly and turned, looking sheepish. Before him stood Joe and Tesshin, the former looking right at him.

"Are you behaving?" the Akita asked with an amused smile, already knowing the answer.

"Of course, Uncle Joe!" he said. "I swear!"

"Good." Joe answered, not bothering to scold him for not calling him "Leader". "Because I'll be watching you."

Orion sighed disgustedly, mumbling to himself about adults being killjoys as he began walking back the way he'd come. The three older dogs laughed as they looked after him. Then Joe turned to Jerome.

"We have to go." he said. "Teru just reported that there's trouble brewing in the East."

"What kind of trouble?" Jerome asked.

"We don't know." Tesshin answered at Joe's right. "But it sounds bad enough that we should go intervene. All Teru could tell us was that it involved Kamakiri in some way."

Jerome frowned.

"Kamakiri?" he said in surprise. "He's been dead for years. What could **he** have to do with this?"

Joe shrugged.

"I guess we'll find out." he said and Jerome nodded in understanding.

Then he glanced over at the sulking Orion.

"Orion!" he called. "Tell Gin and the others that we'll be back when we can. And **try** not to get in any trouble."

"Yeah, whatever." came the answer and the Shepard shook his head.

Then the three leaders took off running away from Gajou towards the East, their powerful strides taking them further and further with each step. As they ran, Tesshin glanced at Jerome.

"What did he say about me today?" he asked nodding back over his shoulder at where they had left Orion.

"That you were dull and no fun." Jerome answered and the ninja dog cocked an eyebrow.

"Really?" he said, looking amused. "Well, I'll have to work on that then."

Jerome chuckled.

"He's young." he said. "He'll learn respect eventually, and maybe even how **not** to cause trouble every 5 minutes if we're lucky."

"You kidding?" Joe answered from their front. "That's like asking him not to breathe."

The three dogs laughed again and then disappeared from view, the still growing forest of Ohu swallowing them up as they entered it. Watching them leave was Orion, and the red-furred pup snorted after them.

"You wait and see." he said out loud. "I'll be the leader one day; the best this place has ever seen!"

"Hey Orion!" someone called and he turned, seeing his brother Rigel.

At the black-furred pup's side was Duke, one of Jerome's young sons, and Sirius, their oldest brother.

"What is it?" Orion asked.

"We're going to explore down by the river in the canyon." Rigel answered, sounding excited.

"Mom told me that that's where my dad fought Ronin the Butcher!" Duke added, wagging his tail.

"And Grandfather Gin said that an enemy of his named Sniper drowned there." Rigel said. "So we're gonna go check it out. You coming?"

"Why not?" Orion answered with a shrug. "It can't be more boring than here. Come on!"

At that, the four pups took off running towards one of the paths that wound down into the canyon, Orion leading the way. They only got a few paces before Sirius turned to his brothers.

"Wait, does anyone know we're doing this?" he asked and Orion laughed.

"Who **cares**?" he said, sounding mischievous. "What they don't know won't hurt us."

Rigel agreed with a wide grin and Sirius shook his head and kept running. Then the small group descended into the canyon as the sun shone down on them from overhead, none of them noticing the ghost of a young Akita atop Gajou, watching them proudly as it disappeared with a smile.


End file.
